Scouts, Searches and The Trials of a Grandfather
by SoulEvangile
Summary: It started as a scouting mission that would double as a searching mission, Robin would find Lucina's friends in Valm while scouting the landscape for later. Back in Ylisse, Chrom is dealing with how to be a Grandfather...wait what!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello reader, old and new. Here it is, the first chapter of the Robin/Cynthia story I promised, I'm aiming for a bit more of humour and light heartedness in this story. This is such a rare pair for no reason. Also did anyone catch the Fire Emblem Direct, SO...MUCH...HYPE. 4 New games, getting all of them on release. If anyone is here who hasn't read my other story 'Fire Emblem Awakening: Noble Pursuits' and a fan of Robin/Maribelle, or want to just read a story then check it out. Shameless Plug over on with the story.**

 **Disclaimer: Fire Emblem belongs to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. I own nothing of this.**

* * *

Prologue- A Scouting Mission and I'm a WHAT?!

"I made the journey together with others, but…we became separated. When Naga devised her ritual, she said that it would allow one to return to the past, but the point in time and place would be completely random before the event, but not too far back. It's very possible that some of my friends may have made it to this time before myself, and others who may not have even arrived." A blue haired woman began, she wore a gold circlet on top of her head that represented her high position. Her attire consisted primarily of blue clothing, a long-sleeved shirt that doubled as a mini skirt, blue thigh high boots and blue stockings, at her hip was a sword. A sword that should have been impossible, a legendary sword known as the Falchion.

"If your friends are out there, we will find them Lucina." A blue haired man spoke confidently.

"Thank you, father." Lucina smiled, he really was a heroic man.

"I want to make a proposition Chrom." A white haired man in a dark purple cloak announced.

"Yes, Robin?" The blue haired man asked, as Lucina started talking to a pink clad woman with grey hair.

"King Validar said that the ships wouldn't be ready at least for another month, the Khan's informed me that the ship the Valmese used is still in the Feroxian port. I propose that a small party of the Shepherds take said boat to scout Valm and find any of Lucina's friends." Robin explained his plan, it would give them time to, both, find Lucina's friends, and gather information on the Valmese forces and landscape.

"What about the rest of us?" Chrom inquired.

"You will be scouting our continent to find any of the people that may have found their way to this continent." The cloaked man informed.

"Excellent idea my friend, we'll talk more about the groups later." The blue haired man smiled.

"I already have an idea for them in my mind already if you would like to hear them now." Robin motioned.

"If you've already come up with them spit it out." Chrom pushed.

"I think it would be best if we were separate for this as well, we can't, Lucina can't and Sumia can't risk losing you on a simple scouting mission. If this Conqueror finds out you're in his empire, with limited forces and protection, he would have you hunted down." The white haired man informed.

"So, you're saying you'll go to Valm, while I stay here. *sigh* Very well, who'll be going with you?" The prince asked.

"Like I said, a small group of us too keep suspicion down, none of the royal family will be coming, so no you, no Sumia, Lucina, Lissa or Lon'qu." Robin said.

"I sometimes forget that man is my brother-in-law." Chrom chuckled.

"They mesh well, I'll be bringing Gaius and Maribelle, it'll be good to have a healer and stealth over there, and I think Maribelle's father is going to have an aneurism soon if that thief keeps stealing his mints, and said thief is a bit cooped up in a mansion." The white haired man chuckled.

"I honestly would've thought that woman would have killed Gaius let alone marry him." Chrom blinked, when he had heard of their engagement he was just as surprised as his tactician.

"Cherche would be a good guide, and a flier would be a nice to have in a group, Vaike too, I think he's taken a liking to her." Robin informed.

"I was wondering when he would settle down, these spars of his have been coming at awkward times." The prince moaned.

"You know he tried to wrestle Minerva?" The tactician joked.

"I'm, honestly, not surprised." Chrom sighed putting his palm to his head.

"The last pair joining me will be Olivia and Henry. Olivia's dancing could be extremely helpful with our small group, and Henry would bring more magic to our forces, and I guess his crow force would be helpful for information, however that works." Robin continued. "I'll leave Virion and Frederick in charge of any strategies, Virion is a surprisingly accomplished strategist, and Frederick will keep him from being rash."

"When you said a small group, I didn't think you would mean only seven of you. Do you think that is enough?" Chrom asked in slight concern.

"If anything, I think it's a bit too much. But it's strange isn't it, Lucina's your daughter, it's entirely possible that her friends are the children of the rest of the Shepherds. Heck, you could have a niece or nephew running around somewhere." Robin joked.

"If I do, Lon'qu is going to have to answer for something." The prince growled.

"Easy their mister overprotective big brother, you can't really punish him for something that happens in the future." The tactician eased.

"Doesn't mean I like the idea." Chrom huffed. "Where do you plan to start and when do you plan to leave?"

"If possible, I want to set sail tomorrow." Robin explained.

"Tomorrow! But supplies, an-an-and other things." Chrom spluttered.

"We'll not need much, just enough for the week trip, we'll resupply at our first stop. There's a small grouping of islands in the South East of the continent, it's also a nice way to sneak into the empire." The tactician eased.

"But are you sure you can leave by tomorrow, it just seems so unlikely." The prince wondered.

"I have my ways, I asked the Khan's of Regna Ferox if they could start filling it with supplies before we left, they told me they would have it ready by tomorrow, along with a crew for us." Robin informed, tapping his finger against his nose.

"You never cease to amaze me. If you want to leave tomorrow, we'll need to be there early so I think some sleep is needed, especially after all this drama and fighting." Chrom shook his head before stretching his back while letting out a large yawn, before noticing his wife and daughter walking towards him.

"Agreed, I'll leave you alone with your family, you have a lot of catching up to do." Robin finished before walking off towards camp for some much-needed shut-eye.

* * *

 _The Next Day- Port Regna Ferox_

"I'm surprised you wanted leave so quickly Bubbles." A red haired man spoke while twirling a sucker in his right hand.

"Though I would've preferred to have informed my parents personally, they were already prepared for another lengthy departure. Still a little more notice beforehand would be appreciated Robin." A pink clad blonde woman explained twirling a parasol in her hands.

"I know it's a bit short sighted of me, but I wanted as much time doing this as possible." Robin explained to the pair of individuals before him.

They had arrived in Regna Ferox and had quickly made their way to the fort. Robin had informed the rest of the Shepherds of his plan and who he would be bringing with him. The reaction was mostly positive though the general consensus of more notice was made apparent.

"Still, kinda weird that now we have two Mini Blue's around, though one isn't really mini anymore." Gaius chuckled, before flinching from a thwack to the head.

"Must you be so crude." Maribelle huffed.

Robin shook his head at the couple before continuing with his checks. They were scheduled to depart within the hour and would make landfall by the same time a week later, he had made sure that there were no storms during that time, but one could never be too careful.

"I knew I would find you here." A voice sounded from behind him.

"Where else would I be Chrom?" Robin replied.

"Fair enough. Frederick has told me that there are some ruins to the east of here. Apparently, they are rumoured to house Naga's Tear, legend says that whoever holds that Tear is granted new power, we're going to search it once you leave. Any suggestions on where it might be?" Chrom asked his long-time friend.

"Most likely in the main antechamber, though if it's said to house such a powerful artefact how come it hasn't been ransacked by graverobbers and treasure hunter's yet?" The tactician asked.

"It's considered holy ground, Feroxi guards are posted their 24/7. Anyone caught trespassing is imprisoned and tried. Flavia is giving us permission to investigate because of the Valmese." The prince informed.

"Well good luck is all I can say. If you'll excuse me, we'll be setting sail in under ten minutes and I need to board, at this rate I'm gonna be late for my own mission." Robin joked.

"Take care my friend, we'll meet again in a month." Chrom said before protruding his right hand.

"Same to you, Exalt Chrom." Robin joked before shaking his hand with the blue haired man's.

"Must you always say that?" The prince asked.

"As long as it annoys you…Always." The tactician smirked before boarding the ship,

"Why do I keep you around?!" Chrom shouted.

"Because you would be dead without me, and you would have to do ALL the paperwork!" Robin shouted back, as the sails dropped.

The Shepherds still on land all gathered around waving off the small group as the ship began its long departure, as the ship caught the wind and left the harbour, they all started to prepare for the small march to the ruins.

"Milord, we'd best be on our way." Frederick spoke towards his liege.

"Very well. Everyone move out!" Chrom shouted towards his loyal followers, before starting their march towards the ruins that held Naga's Tear.

* * *

 _Ruins of Time_

"Gruuughhh, talk about a rough ride." A female voice groaned. "When Naga gave me this option she could've mentioned how painful it was to land somewhere randomly, especially if that somewhere is hard!"

The owner of the voice was currently lying face down on a tiled floor, her neck length blue hair as splayed out as it could be. She was wearing a long dark purple cloak that was two sizes too big for her.

" _Be careful inside, who knows what we'll find!"_ a muffled voice sounded outside.

"Huh, this is inside? It looks like it could be the outside of somewhere with this much decoration." The girl commented to herself, before blinking. "I really need to stop talking to myself one of these days."

" _Father are you sure it's safe to go in?"_ a second voice, that was much clearer this time.

"Isn't that Lucy's voice? And she said father, which means…Argghh Chrom's here!" She shouted too herself, before rising to a kneeling position.

" _It sounds like someone's inside, with all these Risen crawling around we have to make sure they are safe, everyone attack!"_ The first voice shouted, before a loud battle cry was made not long after.

"Wait, Risen?! I forgot they were around in this time!" The blue haired girl lamented to herself, before she was pulled from her wallowing from the sound of pattering feet.

"Hey, are you alright?" a woman's voice sounded in front of her.

The young woman lifter her head to find a blue haired lady in front of her with her sword held in her hand.

"L-Lucy?" The girl stuttered in shock, before finding the sword aimed at her throat.

"How do you know my name?" Lucina threatened, flames in her eyes.

"Err, well, you see…" The younger woman blabbered.

"Answer me!" The elder woman shouted.

"Lucina what's wrong?" A male voice sounded from behind the young princess. "Who's this?"

"That's what I would like to know as well father." Lucina answered.

"Ya know when you said father, I was expecting him to be a little older." The younger girl joked, before finding the sword closer to her throat. "Okay, no humour, you never could understand a joke."

"Is she one of your friends from the future?" Chrom asked his daughter.

"No, though she somehow knows me." The time travelling princess replied.

Chrom took a closer look at the girl being held at swordpoint by his future daughter, the blue hair looked all too familiar, he had the same colour after all. Her eyes were filled with youth and had a lot of mirth in them. The cloak she wore was familiar as well, it looked like the one his best friend had, though much older.

"Where did you get that cloak?" Chrom inquired.

"Finally, as sensible question!" The girl exclaimed. "It was my dad's, he gave it to me, kinda attached to it."

"Lucina, wouldn't you say that cloak looked an awful lot like Robin's." The exalt asked his daughter.

"I would, but to my knowledge sir Robin had no children in my future." Lucina mentioned.

"Well too bad for you but, that Robin guy is my dad, where is he by the way?" The girl asked.

"Impossible, but maybe you could give us your name, since you already know ours." The time traveller asked.

"Oh right, introductions, forgot about that, thanks for the reminder Aunty Lucy." The girl said, before blinking. "Proooooobably shouldn't have said that yet."

"A-AUNTY?!" Lucina shrieked.

"Aunty what now?" Chrom asked confused.

"Names, Morgan by the way." The girl said nonchalantly. Before feeling the two pairs of eyes on her. "What? I'm just saying'."

"H-How can you act so casually after what you just said?!" The future princess continued.

"Doesn't really have the same shock value when you already know." Morgan shrugged.

"Can someone please explain to me what in Naga's name is going on?!" Chrom shouted, still confused.

"You really are slow on the uptake Grandpa." The young girl commented, before realising what she just said. "Again, probably shouldn't have said that. Always had that problem ya know, speak before you think."

"G-G-G-GRANPA?!" The exalt shouted, before promptly fainting.

"I should've expected that honestly." Morgan spoke, before another thudding sound was heard. "Oh great now she's fainted too, where's good help when you need it."

"Milord is everything alright?!" Frederick shouted before appearing from behind the wall, Sumia behind him.

"What happened?" The pegasus knight asked.

"They fainted when I called them Aunty Lucy and Grandpa, Grandma Sumia." Morgan spoke nonchalantly. "Three for three I'm on role." *THUD*

"Milady?!" The knight shouted in worry.

"Gonna need more help here then right Freddy?" The young girl jokingly asked the armoured knight.

"You, young lady, are in luck that we have already found what we came for. You have a lot of explaining to do." Frederick glowered at the girl.

"Wouldn't be the first time you told me that." Morgan sighed before finally standing up, awkwardly. "Woah, numb legs, kneeling too long, in pain, ow."

* * *

 **A/N: Honestly wouldn't be surprised if you didn't find it funny, my sense of humour sucks to most people. But yes, Morgan has her memory's, and is going to be a glorious troll. I tried to imagine her after myself, never knowing how to shut up, even when by herself. I wanted to get meeting Morgan done early, since Robin wouldn't be there for it and neither is Cynthia, so imagine later on when they do meet up.**

 **Now to those who haven't read Noble Pursuits, I like to add little questions at the end of my chapters like this. This week's is simple. Morgan or Kana? Which is better? Masochist prankster troll...or adorable dragon girl. Leave answers in any reviews and if you leave one any form of criticism is welcome.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Well this is late, listing off the reasons why I'm late: Family meal where I couldn't work on the chapter, and group work university assignment, took a bit of time, And Heroes...Lots of Heroes, is it bad I'm already at Chapter 9 Lunatic. Another thing, this is actually the longest I've ever written *YAY*. I struggled to end this Okay don't blame me. Next onto the reviews:**

 **DBZ: Don't worry this question won't be cruel this week.**

 **Darkbeast42: Thanks, Morgan is pretty difficult to write, but I find that because it's more due to her flexibility.**

 **Matt Cyr: Yeah I wanted to introduce Morgan as fast as possible since it would give me more of a back and forth to go between, and watching all of the different interactions might be fun, who knows.**

 **Guest 1: I want to see a picture of that on my desk stat, just Corrin rising Kana, Lion King style and the respective family laying down there weapons at the adorableness of it.**

 **EDD: Double Dee is that you, hehe. It's interesting for you too say that, but whenever Chrom meet's his other child, he never even knew he had another, Lucina's pretty bad with information like that.**

 **Guest 2: Long Review, holy crap. Prepare for the Royal Flush is all I can say. Never been a fan at love at first sight, it feels rushed and I can never get behind it.**

 **My Answer for the question on this was...Morgan! While Kana is adorable and would give you diabetes from just smiling at you, Morgan's is a stronger character to me personality wise (and in game...).**

 **Now the recommendations segment: First we have _Fire Emblem Awakening: The Tactician Magician_ by PRemington900, pretty nice story its mainly Robin x Lucina with a lot one sided Future Children x Robin in there too, OP Robin at its finest. The other is _Everyone Loves a Butler_ by KingWykkyd57, Its a Fates story that centres on Dwyer, and him having a little harem of his own among the Female Children of Fates. **

**These things are starting too take up so much space and I'm sorry to those who don't like it. Now I want everyone to try and find all of the references in this chapter and with that on with the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 1- Wings of Confusion

It hadn't taken long before the royals where able to wake up from their little nap, while the Shepherds where initially worried that their leaders had fainted, once they learned the cause the camp was less worried and were having a good chuckle. The fact that the royal family had fainted at the discovery of a generation that was beyond the one that they were expecting was too much of a good laugh. The introduction of Morgan was a bit of a surprise to some, the initial belief was that she was Lucina's daughter, but the young blunette was quick to clear that up. "As if I could be a daughter of a stick in the mud like her, can't take a joke that one, I'm surprised I'm related to her." She had said, but that just introduced a new question, whose daughter, was she?

"So, Morgan, you said you are Robin's daughter?" Chrom asked his granddaughter, the exalt shuddered at the knowledge, he had only just become a father damnit. Sumia was sitting next to him, still a bit dazed by the knowledge that she was now a grandfather, but the pegasus knight was in awe at the girl in front of her. Frederick was standing to her left, his stoic face had a small look of disdain for the young tactician, not that he didn't like her, she was an incredibly bubbly and hyper person, he was just annoyed that he had been stuck with her all day, as if on a makeshift babysitting duty. Lucina was shaking her head in the corner, she still couldn't believe it.

"Yes sir, grandfather sir, it's the cloak isn't it, completely gives it away." Morgan replied, pulling at the black fabric she wore. "But seriously, mom and dad gave me this as a good luck charm."

"Please don't call me that, I'm still in my twenties. Now tell me, who is your mother?" The exalt asked.

"I feel as though Aunt Lucy should tell you, I don't think it's my place ya know." The tactician in training replied sheepishly rubbing the back of her head, that reminded everyone in the room of a certain tactician.

"Well, Lucina would you like to share such information with us?" Chrom asked his daughter, who was still in the corner.

"If she's here does that mean we failed, but if that's true why is she acting as if nothing is wrong. Yet still, gah, I told her not to act on her own, those stories-" The princess spoke to herself.

' _I think I broke her…oops.'_ Morgan thought to herself.

"LUCINA!" Chrom shouted, interrupting Lucina's muttering.

"Huh, wuzzat?" The elder time traveller spoke in confusion.

"Are you okay? You were muttering to herself." Her mother asked in concern.

"Yes, I am fine. I just feel a little…overwhelmed at the moment." Lucina answered.

"Which is perfectly understandable, but we must ask, do we have any more children?" Sumia questioned.

"You have another daughter, my younger sister." The princess spoke.

"Can you tell us about her?" Chrom asked.

"She's…hyper to put it lightly." Lucina started.

"You can see where I get it from now." Morgan spoke up, smiling.

"Her name is Cynthia." The princess continued, ignoring her niece's interruption and, admittedly, adorable pouting face. "When we were younger she was actually very 'girly', she had a lot of dolls that she used played with, but the stories of the Shepherds deeds phased her out of it pretty quickly. The idea of heroes fuelled her dreams, wanting to become one herself. But it was the stories of Robin that seemed to influence her the most, even more so than mother's sometimes."

"Huh, mother never told me that." The youngest interrupted again.

"To her, his legacy was what a hero should be, a leader who would save everyone they could, if she wasn't as enthralled with pegasi, she would certainly have picked up the sword and magic like him, though there were times I saw her training with them. Like me, she was one of the many who came back to this time." Lucina finished.

"The way you talk about it, it sounds as though Cynthia had a crush on him." Sumia guessed, laughing slightly. Chrom was less happy, he looked furious if anything.

"She did, and still does as far as I know." The princess answered bluntly, stunning her mother with the lack of tact. "It's very possible that she hasn't let it go, especially now that he'll be closer to her age." The princess finished seriously. Sumia was left swooning from how romantic it sounded, as if it had been a story from one her many novels. Chrom slowly stood up.

"I'm gonna kill him." The former prince spoke menacingly, unsheathing his Falchion.

"Chrom?! Father?!" Sumia and Lucina shouted, shocked.

"Milord please calm down!" Frederick informed, moving to restrain the rage filled exalt.

"He's going to take advantage of her! So, I'm going to stop him before he has the chance!" Chrom replied, fury in his voice.

"Gramps!" Morgan shouted, the unfamiliar call made Chrom pause. "If you kill my dad, then this adorable face won't exist!" The youngest in the tent said, poking towards her face, giving her widest smile.

"Uh, well, I guess?" Chrom answered, unsure of how to reply to that.

"You, GUESS! Would you speak to daughter like that?! I feel so unloved!" The small tactician cried, covering her face with her arms and hood, letting out fake sobs.

"What?" Was Chrom's first reaction, his second was. "OWWWW!" After Sumia 'slapped' him in the face again, sending him to the floor.

"Stop being cruel too her!" The queen shouted, before rushing over to hug her granddaughter.

"Have you calmed down milord?" The great knight asked, helping his liege up.

"Definitely, I forgot how hard Sumia can hit." Chrom groaned out, rubbing his jaw. "Alright, I'm sorry Morgan, something just came over me."

"Dad told me you were always overprotective anyway, some of the stories he told me, and that was just with Great Aunt Lissa!" Morgan perked up instantly, reproducing her wide smile, and releasing herself from Sumia's crushing grip. It was then that a thud was heard outside the tent followed by a man's voice.

"Lissa?!"

"And that makes four." Morgan smiled. "Great Uncle Lon'qu, do you need a hand?!" She shouted outside the tent, which was quickly followed by another thud. "Five for five, royal flush, rack 'em up!" The tactician cheered.

"Did…did you do that on purpose?" Chrom asked.

"Dur, yeah, I knew they were there from the start! What, you're telling me you didn't know?" The young tactician smirked.

"How could you even tell they were there?" Lucina inquired.

"There was a constant depression in the tent's 'door', which can only be caused by something resting against it, figuring out who was there was the hard part, but the usual suspects were away from camp on a mission so that only left her, and from what I had been told, she would've dragged her husband along with her." Morgan explained, leaving the tent dumbfounded.

"O..kay. Back on topic, I just have one final question." Chrom began. "Lucina, why didn't you tell us you had a sister?"

"I-I thought, that if you knew of her…it would distract you from your goal to actively search for her. When Master Robin told me of his plan, I had planned to tell you that evening, well…this evening. However, our encounter with Morgan-" Lucina explained, a look of sorrow on her face.

"It put a spanner in the works." The young tactician finished, earning her a few looks. "What?"

"I…guess. I should've known that regardless, you would help anywhere that was in immediate danger, especially had it led to the discovery of one of my friends. I'm truly sorry father, and mother for withholding the information from you." The princess finishing, looking away in shame, before the feeling of arms wrapping around her made the girl look forward at the comforting smile of her mother. No one noticed Frederick slink away.

"It's alright, you did what you thought was right, we would never blame you for that." Sumia spoke with a comforting voice. Lucina couldn't help but cry into her mother's chest for the second time in as many days.

"Hey gramps." Morgan whispered to the exalt.

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that, but what is it?" Chrom reprimanded.

"It's fun too, and are there any pegasi around the camp, haven't spread my wings in a while." The prankster answered.

"You sound just like your father." The exalt bemoaned. "But the only pegasi we have belong to Sumia and Cordelia, unless you ask their permission, I don't think you'll be able too, and who taught you how to fly?"

"Mom of cause, it was always nice, when I was younger she used to take me on rides, we would soar above everything we could with dad looking on from below. I just wish we could've done it more often." Morgan reminisced.

"Did something happen?" Chrom asked, its sounded more urgent than anything.

"Nothing like what you are thinking grandpa, I just didn't get to spend much time with them growing up." The younger girl replied.

"Their jobs making them busy then." Chrom guessed.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Morgan whispered to herself, to make sure that Chrom couldn't hear her. "Grandma, can I go for a fly on your pegasus?"

"If you want to, but be careful she can be very picky." Sumia replied, not realising how easily she replied to the word.

"I'm afraid that we have no time, I have just received a report that a band of mercenaries are terrorising a village east of here, it will take a week for us to get there so I suggest we set off as soon as possible. I have also taken princess Lissa and prince Lon'qu to the medical carriages to recover from their fainting spell that someone caused them." Frederick announced walking back inside the tent, putting emphasis on the word 'someone' and glaring at said someone.

"My bad!" Morgan called, shrinking away from the glowering knight.

"Alright, Frederick we'll inform every one of the situation and start packing up. Lucina, can you start dismantling this tent, Sumia, would you mind taking Morgan for a ride, I think she deserves one." Chrom smiled, gently pushing the younger girl.

"Gasp, you DO care!" The youngest present exclaimed, turning around and hugging the exalt.

"Alright, alright." Chrom said, not really sure how to react. Though the giggles that erupted from the females in the tent told him that it was thing, even Frederick was struggling to hold back a smile.

* * *

 _One week later_

"LAND HOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Alright, everyone start gathering your things, we'll be docking soon!" Robin commanded his comrades. "Captain, how long would you say until we make land?"

"I'd say 'bout ten minutes at this pace, but until yer bunch of lackeys can get off is about another ten on top." The old sea dog replied.

"Very well, thank you for this. I hope your month here will be satisfactory." The tactician said before leaving the captain to himself.

"Sir Robin? A moment of your time?" A pink haired woman asked.

"Yes, Cherche? How has Minerva been, I saw you letting her stretch her wings before." Robin asked the wyvern rider.

"Minervykins struggled the first few days being cooped up in the hull, especially next too an unfamiliar horse, but letting her have her time in the air did wonders too her mood. Though she seems to have taken quite a liking to that Vaike fellow." Cherche answered. "Now the reason why I called you over is that I scouted ahead and found that the port town has been being ransacked by a group of bandits lately."

"Well no rest for the wicked, where you able to get anything out of the townspeople about them?" The tactician inquired.

"That's what I found the most troubling, they say the leader…is Exalt Chrom." The pink haired woman replied, her face showing her anger.

"I'm going to talk to them myself, I might be able to convince them that Chrom is not who has been attacking them, it would do much against us if this place were too suddenly start supporting the Conqueror." Robin explained.

"There was one more piece of news that was even more troubling." Cherche spoke up.

"And that is?" The white haired man asked.

"Though she has never been seen when they have been doing raids, mostly because they attack at night. A blue haired girl has been sighted around the leader." The wyvern rider replied.

"I'm guessing there's more if you're saying its worse?" Robin inquired.

"I'm afraid so, she has been known to call him father." Cherche answered.

Robin just stood there, completely shocked. It was very unlikely that anyone would know of Lucina, especially when the time traveller had just revealed herself, and this timelines version of her was just a newborn. This mean that whoever it was that was around the imposter, was either his actual daughter, or, what makes it so troubling, that it was another of Chrom and Sumia's children from the future, bringing more light to his theory that Lucina's friends were all the children of the Shepherds.

"Well this situation just went from nought to sixty in three seconds flat. It's likely that she doesn't know what this imposter does, the fact that she's falling for it might be that she hasn't seen Chrom in so long that she wouldn't know what he looks like in this time." The tactician explained.

"That's CAWS she doesn't, nyahaha." A male voice sounded from behind the cloaked man.

"Gah! Henry, how long have you been standing there?" Robin asked the smiling dark mage.

"The whole time." Henry answered, still smiling.

' _How did I not notice him?'_ The tactician thought to himself, glancing behind him at Cherche, who just shrugged in response. "Oooookaaaaay thennnn, how did you know that she doesn't?"

"You brought me with you CAWS of my intelligence network, well the birds went right to work. They're saying that the girls a bit of a dunce and she keeps talking about heroes and stuff." The dark mage answered.

"At least my faith in them was not misplaced. As soon as we enter the town we're going to ask around for anything other information." Robin spoke up, before leaving to gather his things.

"Those birds of yours, they told you more than that, didn't they?" Cherche asked the remaining white haired man.

"Yeah, but I'm not telling him that, where is the fun in that, nyahaha." Henry cackled before taking his own leave.

The docking process wasn't as tedious as Robin thought it was going to be, though glancing at Gaius told him that the thief hadn't enjoyed their trip, the poor man was green faced and had been spending most of his time over the ships railings, Maribelle patting his back the whole time, while also reprimanding him on his sweet eating. As soon as they were allowed on the pier, the orange haired man ran down and started kissing the ground.

"LAAAAAAAAND, SWEET LAND!" The thief cried, much to the embarrassment of his wife, who was covering her face in embarrassment.

"Please control yourself, your making a fool out of yourself." Maribelle said, walking down the ramp, she had taken the opportunity to open her parasol to hide her face.

"Sorry Twinkles, but I just spent the last week upchucking my guts on that thing." Gaius answered, before being smacked upside the head. "Worth." And another. "Not worth."

Robin and the group of Shepherds that came with him chuckled at the couple's interactions, before motioning for everyone to depart.

"Now that we've had our laughs, I'm afraid I must be the bearer of bad news, Cherche and Henry are already informed but the town we have arrived in has been having a bandit problem. What's worse is that the leader has been impersonating Chrom and has convinced the village that he is the one that's been attacking them." Robin explained, noticing the angered looks on the faces of his compatriots, though it was harder to tell with Henry. "What's more, is that Henry has been able to inform me that among the people fooled, is Chom's future daughter."

"Your saying that Blue has another kid running around? Starting to feel bad for the guy." Gaius spoke up, before receiving another smack. "I didn't mean it that way, Twinkles. I meant about that he keeps getting unexpected surprises."

"What we are going to do first, is try and convince the town that Chrom is being impersonated as well as finding the location of the bandit's camp. We are going to have to try and get to the princess first before anything else, not having Chrom or Sumia here will make it difficult so I'll try and convince her." Robin informed the group, he didn't notice that Henry's smirk got wider. "As soon as you have any information report to the inn, we'll meet there in thirty minutes." With that the group broke apart.

Robin tried talking to a few different shopkeeps, but as soon as he brought up Chrom they clammed up and became fearful of everything. No matter how much he tried to explain that he was the former prince's right hand man and chief tactician, they just ignored him and sent him away, that continued for the whole of the time he was sent to gather information, and he was supposed to be the tactician. Walking into the inn, he noted that all of the Shepherds were already there.

"Yo Robin, get anything?" Vaike asked the cloaked man as he entered.

"I need to work on my tact, I wasn't able to find out anything from them." Robin explained.

"I take that they clammed up when you mentioned Blue then?" Gaius asked.

"Pretty much, I was hoping that one of you were able to find the location of the bandit's camp." The tactician asked, but a resounding no was his response, but the dancer of the group raised her hand.

"Please tell me it's good news Olivia?" Robin hoped.

"W-well, I was able to f-figure out where the c-camp is." The timid dancer answered.

"Do you think you can tell us where it is?" The tactician asked.

"It's s-supposed to be north of here, n-not that far, in a place called the Verdant Forest." Olivia replied.

"Alright, everyone rest up, we move out in ten." Robin announced.

* * *

 _Meanwhile_

"Bah, that red head said that this stuff was supposed to last a good few weeks." A man said motioning to his blue hair, which was slowly fading back to brown. "That nitwit girl really thinks I'm her dear old dad, pah, she's as dumb as the rest of those townie's. If it weren't for that horse of hers she'd be dead."

"Father are you there, I have some more scouting news." A peppy female voice sounded from outside his tent.

"For the love of, yes, dear, I'm inside what do you have." Ruger called out.

"Woop, thanks, I saw-wahhh!" The girl called out, tripping over her own feet as she entered. "I'm okay."

Ruger struggled to hold back his laugh, the girl seemed to always be tripping over something and it cracked him up.

"Alright out with it girl, what'd ya see?" The trickster asked.

"A suspicious band of people have been making inquiries in town, permission to engage sir!" The blunette asked.

"Granted, what have they been asking about?" Ruger wondered.

"They've been trying to ask where the camp was, they might be a bunch of assassin's trying to kill you father!" The girl shrieked.

"Cynthia, what did I tell you about calling me father near the men?" The bandit leader warned.

"Sorry father! I mean, Milord! Chrom! …It won't happen again." The girl deflated.

"Your mind's as slippery as yer feet. Anyway, you go ahead and distract them, we're not the most equipped right now so best to exercise the better part of valour here." Ruger explained.

"And then Sir Robin will make an amazing plan that will save everyone like he always does." Cynthia sighed whimsically.

"E-er yeah, he'll do just that." Ruger stuttered. _'She won't shut up about that dumb tactician, what's her deal with him?'_ "You head out, we'll pack things up here."

"I won't let you down, sir!" The girl saluted before leaving, tripping once again as she left. "I'm still okay."

"Gawds she's as dumb as a brick. Well at least she's stopped ranting about the future." The trickster laughed to herself.

* * *

 _With the Shepherds_

Robin's group had been walking for a decent time now, the forest wasn't thick, but it was still pretty dense. Maribelle's horse was what, ironically, slowed them down, its larger size made it difficult to navigate the shrubbery. Minerva could at least fly so Robin had asked Cherche to scout ahead, they were finally exiting the forest when the wyvern rider appeared in front of Robin.

"We are getting close sir, but a lone pegasus is encroaching close to us at an alarming pace." Cherche informed him.

"How long do we have before it gets here?" The tactician asked.

"At that speed I would say-" The wyvern rider started.

"Halt evildoer's, the heroic Cynthia will stop you from getting to my father!" The rider cried as the pegasus appeared in front of them. "That was so awesome."

"Now actually." Cherche finished half heartedly.

The girl had blue hair just like her father does, her armour was the typical Ylissean pegasus knight armour, but was coloured white and blue to stand out. She also had a white scarf tied around her neck, mostly to act as a makeshift cape. Her pegasus reminded Robin a lot of someone else's, staring into its eyes he understood why, and it seemed as though the horse did too as it started to jostle its rider around.

"Wooh there girl, what's gotten into you?" Cynthia asked, trying to regain control, but the horse started walking towards the group, and not at a pace that would be considered threatening. "Wait those are the bad guys?!"

The horse, however, ignored its rider and walked up towards the tactician, stopping in front of him, before reaching its snout forward as if expecting something.

"Even after all this time, you still expect it?" Robin asked the horse before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a sugarcube. "Here you go girl, I can't imagine the last time I did that for you." The pegasus instantly snapped it up before pushing her head towards the tactician and nuzzling him as he began to stroke it.

"Bu-but wha-how?!" The rider shouted utterly confused.

"Although you don't recognise us, your mount does. I'm surprised Sumia's mount still remembers me after all this time." The tactician answered.

"MOTHER?! How do you know my mom?" Cynthia shouted.

"The same way I know your father. KInda hard to forget the married pair who you were the best man at the wedding for." Robin replied.

"You were at ours too, Bubbles." Gaius shouted from behind. *Thwack*.

"Still for Chrom to have two daughters from the future is pretty funny, his reaction is going to be hilarious." The tactician continued, having no clue what the exalt was going through and the surprise waiting for him.

"When you say, 'two daughters', you don't mean?" The rider started.

"Your sister Lucina, yes I do." Robin answered.

"Lucy's here?!" Cynthia cried.

"She's not with us right now, she's with your mother and father back in Ylisse." The tactician explained.

"But father's here?" The pegasus knight asked herself unsurely.

"I'm afraid you are being deceived, that man has been terrorising a nearby town impersonating as Chrom. Our goal here is mainly to scout Valm, but our secondary objective is to find Lucina's friends, or in this case, her sister." Robin delivered.

"Ooooh, I knew that creep was lying to me. He barely even smiled when I found him. My father would've given me a big hug and called me his little pega-pony-princess!" Cynthia announced, earning a few giggles from some of the Shepherds. "Wait, then that means that…you're?"

"Robin, tactician of the Shepherds and Grandmaster of Ylisse, pleasure to make your acquaintance princess Cynthia." The white haired man bowed, he was certain her heard Maribelle giving him an applause for that one. *Thud*. "Wha-?" Finishing his bow, he saw that the rider had fainted and had fallen off of her pegasus, though there was smile on her face.

"Pfffttt-nyahaha." The sound of a certain dark mage was holding his sides and rolling on the floor. "Tha-that was even better than I-I was expecting, nyahaha."

"What do you mean Henry?" Robin asked scowling at his fellow Plegian.

"Ah ah ah, spoilers." The grounded man denied tapping his finger against his nose. "It's stuff to do with this wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff that we got going on."

"*Sigh* Alright, I'm going to try and wake her up, you guys start moving on, it's very possible that they know we are coming and are trying to escape." The tactician explained, sending off the group. As they departed he walked over towards the still comatose princess.

"Hey, c'mon we are gonna need you for this." Robin spoke loudly, shaking the girl.

"Robin, stop, I'm ticklish there." The sleeping girl said.

' _What in Naga's name is she dreaming about?'_ "Seriously, up and attem." The tactician attempted again.

"Mmmm, you're really good at this massaging stuff." Cynthia whispered.

' _Okay that's embarrassing.'_ The grandmaster swore he could here Henry's laughter, looking over at the pegasus, who moved its head as if it were saying 'you have no idea'. Getting an idea, he moved to pick up the sleeping girl to put her on top of the pegasus, but as soon as he picked her up bridal style, she started to stir.

"Huh…wha-what happened?" The not so sleeping girl said as she started to stir.

' _Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap!'_ The tactician started frantically looking around for an out to this situation. Looking down, he saw the girl's eyes opening, out of options he made his best attempt to smile at the now extremely awkward situation he now found himself in.

Cynthia opened her eyes, the first thing she realised was that she wasn't sitting on her pegasus any more, the other thing was the pair of arms that was underneath her body, and that she was off the ground. Looking up, there was a figures head that was blocking out the sunlight which dampened her vision a little before it came back, the face was a man that she considered her third greatest hero, noting could beat her parents, and here he was, carrying her bridal style as if he had just saved her.

"Uhhh…nice weather we're having, huh?" Robin asked awkwardly, seeing the princess's red face he thought he had messed up trying to ease the mood. _'Thank goodness Chrom isn't here he would kill me is he saw me like this with his daughter, my life would be-'_.

*Snicker.

' _Wah?'_ The grandmaster halted.

*Snort*

Robin looked at the pegasus knight again and saw that she was covering her mouth with one hand and looked like she was choking on something, but the sounds she was making was the opposite of what he had been expecting.

"Pffffttthahahah. Th-that was so awkward, woo. I-I thought I was gonna die from embarrassment!" Cynthia shouted, still laughing.

"Hehehe, it was the first think I could think of as an icebreaker." Robin replied.

"Well I would say it worked, hey where is everyone else?" The blunette asked looking around.

"I told them to go on ahead so I could make sure you were alright." The cloaked man answered, missing the blush that appeared on the girl's face. "It would be best if we catch up, make sure they are okay."

"Y-yeah, oooh I'm so mad, I'm gonna give that creep a flying hoof to the face." Cynthia's emotions flipped around from embarrassment to rage as Robin let her down as the girl's frantic movements nearly caused him to drop her.

"They might have already engaged them so we're gonna need to get there fast." Robin implied.

"Good thing we have the fastest pegasus in all of Ylisse right here, c'mon we gotta catch up!" The girl shouted enthusiastically, grabbing a hold of the tactician's arm and dragging him along.

"R-right. Just so you know, I haven't really flown before." The tactician informed, still being dragged.

"You'll be fine, the Heroic Cynthia will make sure nothing happens to the legendary hero of legend, Robin!" Cynthia cried, striking a pose.

Robin was left dumbfounded by the ball of energy in front of him, he could only stare in amazement as he was quickly forced on top of the horse. He had ridden horses before, always as the passenger, but that was mainly for accuracy training while on a moving plain. Cynthia mounted the pegasus in front of him and immediately called for the mount to start its run up. The horse was quick to reach the speed it needed for take off, but the sudden lurch in angles was something Robin wasn't used too and instinctively reached for the nearest object to grab onto to hold his balance, unsurprisingly he ended up wrapping his arms around Cynthia's waist.

Now normally this isn't really a problem between rider and passenger as it is something that is to be expected, but if you were in the princess's position it could be made extremely awkward, especially if you just so happened to have childhood crush on said person.

"S-sorry, lost my balance there." Robin was quick to reprimand himself.

"I-it's alright, those things happen, it's like you said. you've never flown before." Cynthia answered back, her face having heated up, luckily Robin had yet to notice.

"Alright, you know where the camp is, but it's likely they retreated with the knowledge that we were coming." The tactician devised.

"Oh, they've definitely abandoned that camp, my original aim was to distract you guys from attacking. However, they said that they were packing first so the bandits may not have left yet." The pegasus knight replied.

"That is impor-…wait, do you hear that?" Robin started but quickly interrupted himself.

"Yeah, it sounds like…weapon's clashing?!" Cynthia shouted.

"Over there, the Shepherds have already engaged them, we need to get there fast!" The platinum haired man announced.

Altering their trajectory, the pair flew as fast as they could towards the sound of fighting. Passing over the last of the forest, the ground area ended up being littered with ruins. While the Shepherds had made headway, the numbers disadvantage was starting to hinder their advance. A group of six could only do so much. While the Shepherds were considered a volunteer group, they were more of a specialist unit within the Ylissean army, the best of the best in a sense. From above, Robin made note of the 'wall' of horseman to the north and one man who seemed to be walking up to them one by one.

"Cynthia, I'm guessing that man down there is the imposter?" Robin asked the rider, pointing towards the figure.

Cynthia followed his finger towards Ruger, and her demeanour changed instantly. "Yeah that's him, what are we going to do?"

"From the looks of it they haven't seen us up here so it might be a good idea to…deliver a flying hoof to the face, was it?" The tactician smirked.

"Now you're speaking my language! It's time for that evildoer to pay!" The rider cried, before charging down towards the trickster.

On the ground, Ruger was running around as fast as he could, trying to convince the mercenaries that he was the actual Chrom was a task in and of itself, especially since his hair had almost fully returned to its normal brown. Not to mention that nitwit had failed to keep the Shepherds at bay, and then had disappeared, not that he cared. But the worst part of it all, was that he kept having to dodge random pockets of explosive gas every few seconds! "Stupid Mire tomes, it would be best just to get the hell out of he-." The man's train of thought was derailed, as a white hoof entered his face.

As the trickster slid across the ground, the owner of said hoof landed on the ground as one of its two passengers dismounted and ran towards the downed man.

"TAKE THAT VILLAIN!" An annoyingly remembered voice announced.

"Good aim, if that man hadn't sealed his fate when he impersonated Chrom that would've left a bruise." A second voice spoke up.

Ruger felt around his mouth with his tongue and the taste of blood was quickly filling his mouth. Spitting the fluid out, he noticed that the blow had removed a good deal of the teeth from the left side of his mouth. "You BASTARDS!" The trickster shouted as he rose to his feet.

"So, you're the impersonator, love the smile by the way." Robin called back.

"Who the hell do you think you are?! I'm Chrom of Yl-!" Ruger tried to shout back.

"Let me stop you right there, I would think I would be able to recognise my best friend, especially when I only saw him a week ago." The grandmaster interrupted smugly, walking towards the trickster. "And where I come from, impersonating royalty is a quite the crime, a crime that just so happens to be punishable by death."

"Wh-who are you?" The bandit leader asked fearfully, backing away.

"My name, is Robin." The tactician said revealing his magic laced arm that he had been secretly channelling since he got off the pegasus.

"Yo-you're the one the nitwit was talking about!" Ruger shouted.

"Who're you calling a nitwit?!" The first voice spoke up, before Ruger found a spearhead being pointed at his neck.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" The thief demanded.

"Doing what I should've done as soon as I found you villain." Cynthia replied. "Now what is your real name?!"

"Grrr, my real name…is Ruger, and I wouldn't have had to live this way, if I had been born a prince." The defeated man answered.

"You could've made something of yourself instead, but I'm sorry, the punishment of this crime is death. Cynthia, please look away, you shouldn't have to see this?" Robin announced, making sure that Cynthia was looking away, he placed him hand on top of the thief. He didn't scream. "It's done, you can look back now."

"W-where is he?" The princess asked.

"He's gone, the village won't have anything to worry about now. We should meet up with the rest of the Shepherds." The grandmaster answered.

The walk across the field didn't take as long as they thought it would. The Shepherds had been able to finish off the last of the bandits, but they were all a bit battered and bruised. Nothing serious, but enough so that they would be in a bit of pain for a couple of days.

"Yo Bubbles where were you. You missed the party." Gaius called out, as he was being healed by Maribelle.

"Infiltrating the back lines. We've won." Robin announced, where he was met with a resounding cheer. "We should head back to the village and rest up, we enter Valm proper tomorrow. There's a place called Sage's Hamlet where we will start our search."

"Gotcha boss." The thief saluted, as he was helped to his feet. The group all started walking back to the forest, Robin was about to set off too but a hand held him in place.

"A moment Robin?" Cynthia asked.

"Sure, what do you need?" Robin replied. Looking at the girl, she was rocking on the balls of her feet and seemed unsure of what she was doing.

"I just, wanted to say thanks for today, if it weren't for you who knows how long I would've followed that creep." The pegasus knight answered.

"It was no problem, anyone would have done the same." The grandmaster replied.

"That's the thing, they wouldn't have. Only heroes can do what you do, and you're among the greatest of them. You're everything a hero should be, and not to mention how you fight. You're like, shing, wapow, pew pew!" The blunette cried, moving around a lot as she ended her speech.

"I wouldn't really call myself much of a hero." Robin said, rubbing the back of his head.

"But you really are, I admired you so much when I was younger, you were ama-wahhh." Cynthia shouted enthusiastically, before tripping over her own feet. "Ahhh, that one's gonna bruise." She groaned.

"Hey are you okay?!" Robin asked, running up to the fallen girl, as he reached her he noticed a piece of metal on the floor next to her. "What's this?" He said reaching for it.

"Ahh, I nearly lost it." The princess cried, grabbing it before he could reach it. "This was something me and my mother started working on in future, but we weren't able to finish it." Cynthia finished, holding the spearhead close to her chest, a tear starting to roll down her face.

"I'm so sorry, I swear I will do everything in my power to make sure the future never happens again." Robin declared, before bring the crying girl into a hug.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, the young pegasus knight crying into the tactician's chest, years of built up frustration and sorrow releasing itself in one go. Neither noticed the sticky-fingered thief that had returned to make sure nothing had happened to the pair as he gazed on from the forest's edge.

' _Well, Bubbles, looks like you finally found someone. Better hope to Naga that Blue don't find out about this otherwise that butt of yours is toast.'_ Gaius thought to himself in the shadows.

As the girl was able to calm down, Robin moved to let go of the girl, but she refused to budge. Looking down, the tactician noticed that she had cried herself to sleep, but a smile was present on her face. Sighing, and hoping she didn't wake up this time. He carried her over to the pegasus that had taken the time to start grazing. Putting the sleeping girl on the horse, he took its reins and started guiding the winged creature back to the inn. As he neared the forest however, a slight bit of orange crossed his vision.

"Gaius, I know you're there." Robin announced.

"Can't pull one over on you Bubbles." The thief replied, revealing himself.

"How long have you been standing there?" The tactician asked.

"From about the time Twinkle Toes Jr. here tripped over herself like dear old mom does." Gaius answered. "Gotta admit though, those were some smooth moves you were pulling on the princess." He continued, shoving his elbow into his friend's side.

"It was nothing like that and you know it." Robin replied. "Now we must be off, I want us in Valm early tomorrow."

"Gotcha mister boss man sir." The thief saluted mockingly before vanishing as fast as his role suggested.

"Sometimes I can't decide whether I want to punch that man or shake his hand." Robin said to himself. He looked back to the pegasus and it's charge, he thought about trying to fly the creature but thought better about it. _'A man flying a pegasus, that's just absurd!'_ He thought to himself, as in another dimension a man with red hair sneezed and fell off of his pegasus as he was trying to make a good first impression on the princess there.

* * *

 **A/N: And DONE! HOORAH! Also the Subaki reference at the end...I actually don't like the guy, for someone who is supposed to be perfect...he pretty freakin' useless.**

 **This story made a much better impact than I thought it was gonna I will admit. Just saying that when I was typing up the last part of this story I was finishing off BlazBlue's Side Story's...Carl...C-Carl...! Next the question of the week: If I were to do a crossover, which series do you want to see the most mixed with Fire Emblem? Leave your answers in the reviews.**

 **And the haul of reviews from last chapter...ahhhh sweet sweet reviews.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm early! Anyway we get two more of the kids in this chapter. These two I generally find to be the easiest Child levels so I thought to do them now, though this isn't my usual recruitment order, I'll post that at the end of this chapter. And DAMN did this story blow up, like seriously 40 followers and nearly 2000 views you guys are awesome. Next onto the reviews, and hot damn where there a lot:**

 **Xilliax: Berserk huh, that sounds like a good idea, will admit my knowledge of that Anime/Manga is really limited but I can see it worker...damn that sword is massive.**

 **Qorilazo: Chrom is just gonna run up to Robin at the end of this arc and just go all Maribelle on him with all the grey hairs he's sprouted from having to take care of his kid. Don't worry Lucina won't be by herself I have the children pairing's all lined up. And yes this is the ultimate double team against out favourite time traveller. SAO and Fairy Tail are nice ideas for a crossover, there can be a lot done with those too, especially with Fairy Tail, SAO seems to be more difficult to work I think.**

 **Draen: The horrors that will be unleashed when everyone finally meets again...mwahahaha*cough**cough* evil laughter is killer on the throat. And I'm not sure yet if they will meet up in Vale, Ylisse or in the Sea yet.**

 **Darkbeast42: I crave the awkwardness. The Peg Knights who start as them are the ones who seem to be the worst, Shigure being an exception because Rally Bot, compared to the 3-5 ones I have on my team in Awakening cos I love manoeuvrability anf not to mention the Archer buff of Fates, made all flyers worse in general. Akame ga Kill is a series I've been meaning to watch and read, and a crossover sound interesting.**

 **DBZ: I see what your getting at and I agree with you there, for the most part to make a FE crossover work its more about putting them into the other characters into the Fire Emblem-verse. As for Harry Potter, I love the idea, it sounds amazing, though its been shown in Laurent's supports with Robin that there are many a tome that can do things that are just not helpful in wartime, and tome's are basically just a catalyst for magic similar to how new wizards/witches in the Potter-verse need wands to act as a catalyst but I can see where you're coming from.**

 **Guest 1: It is an awkward moment, but funny for everyone else.**

 **Guest 2: Don't worry, I promise it will be good...maybe.**

 **Guest 3: Final Fantasy huh...I feel as though XIII and XV would be the best, I can picture it now Noctis waking up in Awakening and just showing off his phasing powers. Or for XIII Robin waking up in the Pulse Vestige with Fang and Vanille and the mark of Grima being crystallised and not gone. Barthandelus changing his plans to incorporate Robin in them and Grima...well I think I just found my next story Original Idea Do Not Steal.**

 **Whew that was a lot, now I will admit that Final Fantasy idea is actually turning in my head already. So I'm gonna ask, do you guys wanna see it or not? This will replace the question of the week this time so with that the recommendations. First off is _Lies for Children_ by TheRepeat...This story is sad gonna straight up say it, but its a nice one shot. A bit long for some but I still recommend it...even if it did nearly make me cry. Next is _Corrin Reacts!_ by ElfCollaborator...I laugh my ass of to this every update, I highly recommend this story just for a good laugh, also I feel as though I need to say something cheerful since with the other story is dark and dreary.**

 **LONGEST AUTHOR'S NOTES EVAR...Apologies again to people who don't like these but I feel like its a good way for me to connect to you guys. Anywau onto the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 2- Armour Addiction and Raging Blood

"Is this the place Frederick?" Chrom asked his trusted retainer.

"Yes, milord. This is the village where the reports came from." The giant of a man replied.

The village was like most in Regna Ferox, buried under a layer of snow and as cold as it looked. Even though most villages they passed in the frozen tundra of Ferox where bustling with markets and workers, this place looked barren, as if the residents feared to leave their home.

"Do you think this is because of the bandit problem gramps?" Morgan asked, causing Chrom to sigh in frustration.

"More than likely, we received that information a week ago, the only thing we can hope for is that they haven't done anything too drastic in that time." The prince hoped, he would hate to have something happen because they couldn't travel fast enough.

As they neared closer to the village they noticed that there was a small commotion in the centre of the town. Once the Shepherds started to move closer one of the group saw the group and rushed towards them, a look or urgency on their face.

"Please you must help!" It was a woman who had ran up to them.

"What's the problem?" Chrom asked on reaction.

"A girl went to challenge the bandit leader, she had been living with me and my husband for some time when Cassius' bandits turned up. They weren't as much a bother at first, all they did was antagonise people, but one day Cassius himself came and challenged my husband's honour and strongarmed him into accepting it, he promised it would be honourable duel. But it turned out to be a trap, he had hidden his men in the room, no one man could hope to survive. Please you must help her before the same happens to her!" The woman cried.

"Dastards!" The prince cried, before receiving a smack from his wife. "Oww! What was that for?!"

"Language, we have children present." Sumia reprimanded, pointing towards Morgan. The tactician in training just smiled and waved pretending to have not heard what he said.

"Alright I'll try to be more careful." Chrom replied before regaining his composure. "Shepherds, to me! We must quickly put an end to these bandits!" He roared, with his men giving a battle cry of their own. "Do you know where they will be?" The prince asked the widow.

"Their hideout is just up the road, you can't miss it!" She quickly informed, before Chrom led the Shepherds away.

The woman was right in how it wasn't far away, it was a large building. Annoyingly the gate was locked and Gaius was away, luckily Anna had joined them so they still had someone to pick the lock. It was obvious that the bandits had no intention of letting the girl escape. As the Shepherds made their way into the building, the sounds of fighting had already started.

"Virion, Frederick we need a plan now!" Chrom called to the temporary tacticians.

"Well it sounds like the fight is coming the room at the end of the hall, we need to get Anna their and protect her till he can pick the lock." Virion pointed out.

"If I may be so bold milord, but it sounds as though speed is of the essence, I recommend marching through the middle." Frederick added.

"But what about the choke points? We need to be sure that there aren't any other bandits hiding out here in case the girl does survive long enough." Morgan spoke up.

"You have a plan Morgan?" Chrom asked.

"The best plan here woukd be to have a group of us rush the door, the rest of us should take to the extra corridors and ambush the ambushers." The blunette smiled.

"Frederick? Virion? Any flaws with that plan?" The prince inquired.

"Nothing wrong at all milord, but who will go with where?" Frederick spoke.

"Me, Grandma and Grandpa, Lucina and Anna along with Sully and Donnel should go up the centre. Everyone else should join should split into two groups and clear out the building." Morgan advised, if her father could see her now.

"No other objections? Then…CHARGE!" Chrom roared, his cry distracting the bandits in the building as the front line was cut down effortlessly.

* * *

 _Meanwhile_

"Girly what's that racket?! I thought you said you would duel with honour?!" Cassius growled. The man looked deranged, and wore the robes of sorcerer, he carried a skull topped rod that was really just a glorified walking cane. He hair looked as though it hadn't been washed in weeks and dirt stained it all.

"It is you who promised an honourable duel cretin!" The girl retaliated, blocking another arrow, she was being besieged on two sides but her reliable armour was being her shield. How she loved her armour. The dark haired girl may have been immobile from it, but she would argue her strength didn't make it matter. She was the daughter of a knight after all, though her father was a farmer's son, he was just as strong a warrior as her knighted mother. "I have no idea where or who these noises are from, but hear me when I say I will defeat you and avenge my master!"

"Foolish girl! You're lucky I'm feeling generous in not attacking yet." The bandit leader snarled. He wasn't worried, though he knew the girl was too honourable to have reinforcements come, he had still planned for the case. The men he didn't have hiding in the basement of the main room, where in the halls ready to ambush those foolish enough to enter. He cackled knowing he would triumph no matter which way, but the banging on the doors was really starting to interrupt his internal monologue.

"Just what is that noise?!" Cassius yelled walking towards the door he had barred shut. As he got closer her realised the banging got louder but fewer in between. He made his way in front of the door ready to yell at his men for taking so long, but two swinging doors to the face interrupted that plan and threw him across the room, to the surprise of the armoured girl and the group of archers in the room.

"Told ya' captain, all ya needed was a bit of elbow grease!" Red haired cavalier shouted, if anyone who met her for the first time they would see one colour. Red. Her horse was a radiant shade of white as she charged at one of the stunned archers.

"Yeehaw! Way ta go darlin'!" Another voice shouted, this one a male, he too charged at the other stunned archer, lance at the ready. Unlike his wife, he moved on his feet, his main defining feature, was the cooking pot he wore on his head for armour.

As if by some divine intervention, both archers fell at the same time, much to the surprise of the armoured girl who could only look on in awe.

"Kjelle?!" A third voice spoke, this one was a voice the armoured girl could place in a heartbeat.

"Lucina?! What are you doing here?!" Kjelle asked, in mild annoyance seeing as her leader had broken her own rules.

"No time for that now, where is that dastard who trapped you here?" Another male voice spoke up. "OWWWW, I'm Sorry!"

"Urgggh…what just happened?" The armoured girl looked confused at her fellow time traveller.

"I'll explain later, but as father asked where is the leader? Lucina asked.

"He's over there, he's had a meeting with the wall though." Kjelle answered.

Looking over, the princess saw the man lying with his face against the wall, he was clearly unconscious since his back was bent at a weird angle that would cause anyone pain. Many would think he was dead if it hadn't been that he was groaning as he started to rise from his comatose state.

"What just happened? Wait…GIRLY?!" Cassius growled turning around, only to be met with a lance to his neck.

"I win!" Kjelle spoke, stabbing him in the chest, not giving him the chance to fight back. Not the way she wanted to win, but it works, she avenged her master.

"Nice work there, who knows how long you were holding out kid." The cavalier spoke as she approached her.

"It wasn't my proudest battle, I shouldn't have fallen for such an obvious trap." Kjelle answered, looking down at her failure.

"Hey, shit happens, can't help it sometimes!" The red head shouted, patting her on the back.

"SULLY! Children are present!" Sumia shouted to her friend.

"Damn Sumia, you've really taken to the role of grandma way too easily." Sully replied, laughing as her queen started going red from embarrassment.

"Lucina, might explaining what mom means?" Kjelle asked her friend, not realising the bombshell she herself just dropped.

"I think you might have to explain yourself first Kjelle." Lucina replied, putting her palm to her face at the knight's mistake.

"So, you're my kid then girly?" The red haired woman asked the knight.

"Yes." The knight reached into the pocket that was in her leggings. Taking it out, she unclenched her hand revealing a ring. "This was yours right."

"Well Naga damn, that is my ring, hey Donny get over here!" Sully shouted over to the pot wearing man.

"What you need Sully?" The villager asked as he walked towards his wife.

"Seem's we're the next ones in the parent's club, meet your daughter." The cavalier informed.

"Hoo Boy! Just wait till Ma hears about this." Donnel celebrated in his usual way.

As introductions were made and Kjelle was introduced to the rest of the Shepherds, it was time for the newest addition to have her question explained.

"Lucina, you mind telling me this whole thing about your mom being a grandmother?" The knight asked the blunette.

"Yes, I need to make that clear. Morgan, would you mind coming over here?" Lucina called for her niece.

"What do you need Lucy?" The young girl asked.

"Kjelle, this is Morgan. Robin's daughter." The princess introduced.

"You're joking, right?" Kjelle couldn't believe yet.

"Pfft, Lucy?! Joking?!" Morgan laughed. "Seriously though she's right."

"Please tell me she's not your kid!" The knight hoped. She could see the blue hair and that was enough evidence for her.

"Okay, now I KNOW you're joking." The youngest spoke up. "She's too boring to be my mother." Morgan said, ignoring her aunt's reaction.

"I am not boring!" Lucina retorted.

"Yeah, not buying it, you're too serious and you can't make a joke to save your life." The tactician in training argued.

"The Risen wouldn't stop if you told a joke." The princess said.

Kjelle cleared her throat to stop the family argument.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" The knight asked. "But if Morgan? Was it? Is not your daughter then that means she's…oh Naga she's Cynthia's daughter!" Kjelle shouted realising the horror that has befallen them.

"Yes, Cynthia is her mother, it explains Morgan's hyperactivity." Lucina answered, not having picked up what Kjelle meant.

"Don't you realise, Robin's intelligence with your sister's energy! If she's anything like her mother, we are going to have to deal with far too many pranks and hero's rants." The knight informed, watching as her friend slowly came to the realisation herself.

"Hey! I grew up listening to them rants thank you very much! Now gramps wanted to see me about something so I'll see you ladies later." Morgan ranted, before storming off in an exaggerated huff.

As Morgan walked to the Exalt's tent, she couldn't help but think on how to prank the knight in revenge. While she knows that heroes shouldn't aim for vengeance over something so petty, she couldn't help but want to do something to the knight. Not realising she was at Chrom's tent, she walked in without any sign that she was there surprising the Exalt.

"Morgan, please announce when you get here next time?" Chrom asked.

"Think Morgan, think, maybe that armour of hers." The young girl mumbled to herself.

"Urgh...Morgan you there?" The Exalt asked again, waving his arms.

"She's gotta take it off sometime…maybe some paint or some ink would make her think twice abo-" The blunette continued.

"MORGAN!" Chrom shouted losing his patience.

"Huh wuzzat? When did I get here, oh hey gramps just the man who I wanted to see." Morgan spoke as if nothing was wrong.

"You were lost in your only little world, and I believe I wanted to talk to you." The former prince explained.

"Details, details, the thing is we're here now so what is it that you wanted to ask?" The girl asked.

"As you know, every one of the exalted bloodline has the Brand of the Exalt on their person, the only exception to this rule is your great aunt for some reason." Chrom spoke.

"So, you want to know if I have it and where it's at, right?" Morgan caught on.

"In a nutshell, you can see it here on my shoulder, Lucina has it in her left eye. I want to know if you have it, it'll also help prove you are a formal princess of Ylisse." The Exalt continued.

"Well, never really thought too much of the princess thing, but it's another thing on the résumé. My brand is on my left arm, see?" The girl said, rolling up her sleeve. "Just so you know, mom was over the moon when it appeared."

Chrom looked at her arm, and there it was clear as day, the tear drop like mark that anyone of the exalted bloodline could almost guarantee to have.

"I can understand that, I was so proud when Lucina's mark appeared as well." The Exalt remarked, reminiscing the memory.

"Is there anything else you wanted, I need to go and…think up some strategies…and Grandma said I can try and fly on Rose again, I need to work on my lancework." Morgan asked fixing her cloak.

"Yes, that's all, but I feel as I must congratulate you on your work today, your father would've been proud." Chrom congratulated, before feeling like a cannonball hit him.

"Thank you, Grandpa." The young girl thanked, mumbled by her face in the Exalt's shirt, hugging him as is her life depended on it. The Exalt, for the first time, returned it honestly.

* * *

 _The following morning_

Kjelle woke up after her first time in the Shepherds encampment, though she wasn't used to sleeping in without needing to go on watch, it was probably the best sleep she had in a very long time. Being reunited with her parents and leader had lifted a massive weight from her soldiers that she didn't know she had. Then there was her armour, her precious armour, she had spent the last evening cleaning and polishing the steel plates over and over until she could eat off of it.

Walking to the armoury, where it was advised to have been kept, she started looking for it. It wouldn't be too hard to find, she was certain she was the only armoured knight in the army, though the stories of her parents' generation kept talking about an invisible knight. Looking around she found the silver and purple armour, but upon seeing it her mouth went wide in shock.

Her armour, her precious precious armour, had a giant red stain on its breastplate, in the shape of a target. Kjelle seethed in anger, whoever did that would pay dearly. Wheezing laughter from behind her, drew the knight's attention. Standing behind her, was the little girl who claimed to be niece of her friend.

"Y-you should see the look on your face…hahahaha!" Morgan was clutching her sides and was barely keeping her footing. "P-P-P-PRANKED!"

"YOU! You're gonna pay!" Kjelle roared with vengeance grabbing her lance and rushing the tactician.

"Whoops, look at the time, gotta run!" The blunette taunted, running out of the storage tent, the armourless knight close on her tail.

"GET BACK HERE!" The black haired girl yelled in her chase.

The knight's yelling had, unintentionally, woken up the rest of the camp. As everyone poked their heads out of their tent, some of them armed should the worst be happening, they noticed that the newest member of the Shepherds was chasing the youngest, screaming bloody murder.

"So, let me get this straight." Chrom started, running his palm to his face. "The reason why you were chasing Morgan across the camp, and waking everyone up, is because she played an innocent prank on you."

"She desecrated my armour. There was nothing innocent about it." Kjelle argued back.

"You insulted mom, I have had my revenge!" Morgan countered, raising her fist into the air, justice had been served.

"Both of you are on kitchen duty for the next week, this was a petty argument and retaliation. Hopefully some reprimand is enough to get you back on good terms with each other. And that punishment starts now, so go join who is on duty right now." Chrom sighed, sure, there were arguments among the Shepherds all the time, but it usually wasn't over something as petty as revenge.

"Alright, gramps." The younger girl accepted reluctantly, hanging her head low as she left the tent.

"I don't like the decision, but you're the leader." Kjelle muttered, before following the blunette.

It was times like these where Chrom wished he was younger again, slumping into his chair, he really needed a drink.

* * *

 _Meanwhile in Vale_

"You're not making me get on another one of those death traps Bubble's!" Gaius shouted trying to escape the grasp of his friend and wife. They group of Shepherds had woken up bright and early after the battle from the day before. Robin had formally introduced Cynthia to the rest of the group, and she took to them like a house on fire, recalling tales of their legacies and losing herself in the stories of her youth. Reminding everyone one about the small ferry to the Vale mainland had left everyone in relative ease, minus one red haired thief who was trying to come up with a different way to get there.

"Gaius, this is only for a few minutes, you'll be back on solid ground in no time." Robin sighed, as he dragged the sugar addict.

"Honestly darling must you make a show of yourself." Maribelle huffed, while she wasn't as physically strong as the two men, the threat of her staff had weakened Gaius' resolve. Though not by much. Reluctantly, Robin was forced to use bribery.

"I heard Valm has some toffee that can only be found in its mainland. I was originally going to pick some up for a friend, but it seems he isn't going to be with us." The tacticians wondered aloud, glancing to his side, he knew it had had the desired effect.

"Toffee! Why didn't you say so Bubble's lets get goin'!" Gaius shouted, gaining his footing, the thief rushed on board the ferry.

"I wish you didn't have to bring candy into the mix Robin, but whatever works I guess." The noble sighed, wishing that her husband would be more rational sometimes, walking off to join him.

Looking around, he saw most of the Shepherds had already boarded, but the one who he wanted to talk too hadn't gone onto the ferry yet, looking behind him, the tactician jumped back seeing the smaller dark mage behind him. "H-Henry, just the man I wanted to see?" Robin asked, hoping the other white haired man hadn't noticed his slip.

"Oooh, what do you want with me, something bloody maybe?" The dark mage wondered.

"Another time. What I wanted to ask is whether you can get your crows to scout ahead for us, we're supposed to be docking near a village known as Sage's Hamlet and I want to make sure if we need to be prepared." The tactician informed.

"Ya see I would, but I think someone else has already done the job for me." Henry replied, looking off into the distance.

"What do you mean?" Robin asked, before the soft flapping of wings drew his attention.

"Scout Cynthia reporting in, Robin sir!" The blue haired rider saluted, dismounting from her pegasus, she tried to walk, but tripped before even making two steps. "I'm okay."

"I'll leave you two along." Henry smiled knowingly, boarding the ferry.

"Here, I'll help." Robin had walked over, he held out his hand as the princess grabbed it, helping her back to her feet.

"Thanks, anyway, reporting in." Cynthia smiled, before trying to don a serious face. Robin couldn't help but think how cute it looked.

' _Wait, cute, where did that come from?'_ The tactician thought, before shooing the thoughts away. "What have you got for us Cynthia?" Robin asked, guiding her and the pegasus towards the boat.

"It looks as though some bandits are marching towards the village, they don't seem like fighters so we need to get there as much as possible." The rider delivered.

"How far where they away?" The tactician egged.

"About a half hour, by the time we dock they'll be minutes away." Cynthia continued.

"Thank you, Cynthia, and good job thinking ahead." Robin praised, not noticing the pegasus knight shy away.

"N-no problem, you have no idea how hard it was to not go after them myself. Heroes call and all that." The pigtailed girl added. What she didn't say was that she did try but Rose, her pegasus, didn't listen to her and turned her back. Rose snorted at her.

"I understand, I'm proud of you for holding back, now we need to think of a plan for this attack." The white haired man explained, walking up the boarding plank. Cynthia followed him up, but, in typical fashion of her family, tripped on the last step. Bracing herself for the hard impact that she was used to, she was surprised that it wasn't the wooden floor of the ship's deck, but rather the warmth of a human body. Opening her eyes, she saw that Robin had caught her. "You really are your mother's daughter."

Cynthia's face started heating up again, she was so embarrassed. "T-thanks for the save." She stuttered, she really didn't want to let him go but she did reluctantly.

"All I can ask is to try and be a little more careful, okay?" The tactician asked.

"I'll do my best." Cynthia smiled, trying to return to her normal disposition.

"Hey, if you two lovebirds are done, can we get moving, I want to be off of this thing as fast as possible Bubbles!" Gaius shouted, teasingly. That really didn't help Cynthia's attempts. "And don't forget those toffee's!"

"R-right." Robin stumbled. "Captain! We're all on board, you can depart at your leisure!" He shouted towards the bearded man.

Turning back, Robin noticed that Cynthia had ran off, he thought she was probably embarrassed from the thief's teasing.

The ferry was over as fast as Robin had hoped, the pegasus knight's report had him a bit on edge He had informed the rest of the Shepherds about the bandits on the village they were going to visit, and told them about how they needed to be on their toes. The docking process was talking longer than what he wanted and he was growing anxious. As soon as the plank had dropped, he thanked the captain and rushed onto the dock.

"Alright everyone, let's move. I'm sure you all know who you are partnered with so we need to start leaving." Robin announced, before he started to leave the pier, the sounds of wing beats and hooves sounded signalling that they had started making their distance.

"Err, Robin?" A voice asked.

"Yes, Cynthia?" The tactician replied.

"Who am I partnered with, all the other Shepherds are with someone else?" Cynthia inquired.

"You're with me, we worked well in the last battle, and I need to make sure that the princess is safe as well." Robin answered, continuing his pace.

While Cynthia was happy that she was paired with Robin, she also feared that it would only be temporary, he had told her about how they were looking for the other time traveller's, and so it was possible that as soon as they found someone else she would be put with them. She was glad that he had told her that they had worked well, but she was still a bit worried.

* * *

Sage's Hamlet was a normally peaceful village. It was a humble place filled with healer's, apothecary's and farmer's. It was out of the way from most area's so travelling traders were quite rare, but they made do. They weren't expecting the bandit attack that was on the horizon.

"Alright, we need to be careful, it doesn't look as though the bandits are here yet. Everyone be on your toes." Robin ordered his comrades. He took the opportunity to join with Cynthia as they started making their way into the hamlet.

Then a commotion started up, some of the bandits had started attacking some of the villagers as they were evacuating into the buildings. But a swordsman had taken it upon himself to defend them, he was quite boisterous, announcing his attacks, while normally a terrible battle plan, the bandits seemed too confused to react. He was able to take out one of them, but he had missed the second bandit, who regained his composure.

"OWAIN!" Cynthia cried, charging into fray.

"Cynthia, WAIT!" Robin tried to call her back, but she was determined. "Shepherds ATTACK!" He roared, not normally his plan, but it'll have to do, running ahead as his comrades joined with each other, he rushed to catch up with the princess. Luckily, he didn't have to go far as Cynthia had helped the swordsman out of the danger he had found himself in. He was going to reprimand her had she not tackled the man into a hug.

"Dearest cousin, it is wondrous too see my fellow comrade again." The brown haired man announced, as if he were conducting a play.

"It's great to see you too Owain, but what are you doing here?" Cynthia asked.

"Tales of a legendary sword have brought me here, it is by my sword hand that yearns for the blade, the legendary Mystletain." Owain replied.

"Well I don't know about a sword, but we could certainly use your help with saving this village." Robin spoke up.

"You must be a comrade of my dear cousin, I am Owain Dark, scion of legend, the blood of my heroic parents flows through me as I journey to quench my sword hand's thirst!" The myrmidon cried, with much enthusiasm. Robin just stared at him, confused.

"He's Aunt Lissa's son, Robin." Cynthia added, translating Owain's speech. The swordsman however was in shock over who the girl just named.

"Robin?! As in THE Robin?! The hero of the Plegian war and the legendary strategist of the Sherpherds?!" Owain squealed, yes squealed. "Can I have your autograph?!"

"Uhhh…later, one we finish here." Too Robin's credit, he was only slightly stunned by the man's eccentrics. The battle cry of some more bandits approaching a different building brought them out of their conversation. "Quickly after them."

"Have no fear, Owain Dark will smite these villains, with the legendary hero Robin and his justice bound cousin by his side, they will triumph over any foe that they will encounter!" The myrmidon monologued, not realising that Cynthia and Robin had already took off ahead of him. "Awww c'mon that one was really good. Wait for me dear Mystletainn, I will be back for you!" He cried chasing after his comrades.

The bandits weren't that much of a threat, though the added need to protect the villagers gave a sense of urgency to the tactician as he defeated bandit after bandit. He made sure to keep an eye on the time travellers to make sure they didn't run off by themselves, luckily Owain only moved to talk to the Sage that was in charge of healing the injured. The rest of the Shepherds had joined with them for the last of the bandits, but as they prepared for the final assault the myrmidon came back with a look in his eyes that Robin knew was going to start a monologue.

"I have found it the, the legendary Missiletain!" Owain shouted, raising the 'legendary' sword above him. Really it was just a normal steel sword that was just painted to look different, if anything the glossy finish would make it worse than a steel sword.

"Owain, please let it wait till later, you can indulge all you want after this but please let us finish this." Robin begged, his fingers grasping his temples.

"As you command Sir Robin, Owain Dark shall endeavour to-" The brown haired man continued.

"OWAIN!" The strategist shouted.

"Sorry." The man apologised meekly.

Robin walked up to the disheartened man and put his arm around him. "I don't mean to shout but we need to focus, we don't know how powerful these bandits will be. I would hate to lose anyone on the count of being distracted. Not to say your speeches don't have the opposite effect, but we'll probably understand you better once we get to know you, but as of right now we don't know how to react to it." Robin explained, trying to lift Owain's spirits back up.

"You're right, let us finish this glorious battle." The myrmidon replied, his mood returning.

"Yeah, it's like Robin said, your speeches maybe goofy to the Shepherds now but in the future, they can be motivational." Cynthia added.

"Now I belive it's time for the final assault, everyone charge!" Robin commanded, as the group behind him signalled with their battle cry. The bandits didn't stand a chance.

The villagers of the hamlet celebrated the men and women who had been able to save them. Robin let Owain do his thing with his speeches, while some of the adults of the village turned away, the young children were enamoured by the time traveller's words. Robin reminded himself to sign an autograph for the prince. _'Who would've thought that Lon'qu's son would've turned out like this.'_

"So, what does it feel like, being a hero?" Cynthia asked from beside him.

"How do you feel right now?" Robin asked in return.

"It…it feels nice, like I've helped them as much as I could and was able to save as many people as possible." The blunette answered.

"Then there's your answer. Look at Owain, to those kids he's a someone who they want to look up too. His stories, while a tad unbelievable, are helping them forget the fear they just had to go through. He probably doesn't realise just how much he is influencing them right now." The tactician explained.

"Yeah. Hey Robin, thanks for helping him, he's a bit out there, but he means well." Cynthia said, looking away.

"I can't begin to imagine what you kids have been through. I promised I would not let that happen again, and I won't." Robin said determined. Cynthia could only look at him in awe. He really was how the stories said, lost in her daydream she was rudely awoken from it from the sound of the strategist laughing.

"What's so funny?" The princess asked confused.

"I was just remembering about what I told your father before we left. I said that there was the possibility that he would have a niece or nephew, and then he threatened Owain's father. I can only imagine his reaction when he sees Owain." Robin laughed.

"That would be kinda funny." Cynthia agreed, before delving into her own giggles. The pair laughed for what felt like an eternity, the rest of the Shepherds looked at the dynamic duo. Owain paused from his story telling as he looked at his cousin and fellow Justice Cabal member in pride.

' _Congratulation Cynthia, you've got him right where you want him.'_ The swordsman thought before returning to his epic tales that he was regaling to the children.

Calming down from there giggle fit, Cynthia turned to the tactician. "Thanks for that Robin, you sure know how to cheer someone up." The princess said.

"It was my pleasure, princess." Robin bowed, the same way he did the day before. "I think it's best we get some rest, I heard that there was a Wyvern Valley in the west, and I think I should consult with Cherche about it." The tactician explained.

"Yeah, I'm feeling kinda tired, it's been a long day. The villagers said we could stay at the inn free of charge today because of what we did, a hero's reward indeed." Cynthia smiled before rushing off.

The tactician smiled at her retreating form, he was thankful that even in the future, that from how desolate it sounded, the children were still able to keep their spirits high. He would've moved to have the conversation with Cherche, but Vaike was already taking her aside, so he decided it would be best to leave them alone.

' _I wonder how Chrom's doing right now.'_ Robin asked himself.

* * *

 _With the Shepherds in Ylisse_

"Bleeerrrgh!" Chrom was not having a good time. The entire encampment was suffering from food poisoning, the last time that had happened was when Sully had been given kitchen duty. She was never allowed to go there again.

"F-father, do yo-you know who was in the kitchen to-today?" Lucina asked, barely holding it together herself.

"I-I had put Morgan and Kjelle there as punishment for their argument." The man answered.

"Father, Kjelle was banned from making any form of food in the future, her only attempt halted out efforts for the whole day!" The princess shouted.

"Looks like she inherited her mother's cooking skills." The Exalt moaned, before feeling a sudden urge. "OH NAGA NOT AGAIN!"

Yeah…Chrom was not having a good time.

* * *

 **A/N: Not much to say hear but the the Paralogue order I do, again I'm from the UK, they are called these over here.**

 **Cynthia**

 **Severa**

 **Owain**

 **Nah**

 **Brady**

 **Inigo**

 **Noire**

 **Kjelle**

 **Gerome**

 **Yarne**

 **Laurent**

 **And Then Morgan goes after their sibling OR Mother depending on what I do for pairings. Now I won't reveal pairings fully just yet, some aren't completely decided. So Review if you want and like before What do you think of that Final Fantasy XIII idea yay or nay, leave your answer in a review And I'll see you lovely lad's and lassies in the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Finally finished this, how longs it been. *Looks at date, then at last time updated*...oh...I guess an explanation is in order. First off, University...OH DEAR LORDY LOU, it has been hectic. Assignment after Assignment after Assignment, the group work I have had took up nearly all of my free time leaving me very little edgeways to write, I also Awakening'd myself out, I did a run where I unlocked nearly every single S rank possible for M!Robin and it tired me out, hot damn...in other news, I'm finally doing a Tharja run for the first time.**

 **Fire Emblem Heroes has also been a thing, my first summon...was Tharja 4*...and my first 5* was Camilla...why do I get all the stalkers. Even when I used my Camilla as fodder for my Cherche, I got Spring Camilla on my first pull from that banner...I don't even like Camilla *gets pelted by fruit and vegetables*...oww...owww...HEY THAT ONE WAS ROTTEN! *BOOO!* QUIT IT, NOWI SIC 'EM! *whisper, whisper* What do you mean she can't come out of my phone? *pst pst pst* Fine...now I deeply apologise for the lateness of this chapter and all subsequent chapters of my other stories I'll post, hopefully by the end of the week.**

 **Also, TatsuiChiyo had returned to us, so before you even read this, read his story, that thing is legendary, and to my surprise...he followed this story...I actually squealed like a fangirl when I got the email. This story has also reached 70 followers, hype...this is now officially the most followed Cynthia x Robin story on this site, I cannot thank you guys enough for this, you are all awesome. Now reviews:**

 **Draen: Yeah, anyone who has to suffer Kjelle's cooking is a poor soul. I wouldn't understand why Owain would be jealous of Cynthia except if they weren't cousins, and even then I always just imagined them as just really good friends. I'm kinda an Owain x Severa loyalist.**

 **Xillax: The main problem I've had with FFXIII is that it focused too much on the end game rather than the main story, you know. XV was amazing and I loved that game from the moment I put the disc in, I like that idea you have with Robin being like Shiva in that game, but for now I'll leave that idea on hold or up for adoption, I still have exams to go through...how does a computing course have exams?**

 **Qorilazo: Does Gerome count as a trouble maker?**

 **Guest 1: Olivia was paired with Henry from the start, I personally really like that pairing for the two, and no Inigo will not be paired with Morgan, Morgan will not be paired with anyone cos she is essentially a third gen unit, and Inigo...I have plans for him...*taps finger to nose*.**

 **Guest 2: Morgan I'm doing my damndest to make as enjoyable as possible, so the fact I'm getting some laughs out of people is nice to know.**

 **HelloPotato: Indeed this pairing is underappreciated, maybe its because people fanboy over Lucina they forget about the other children except for Sev, and as for the crossover, the pairing is currently undecided but I'm leading towards a certain pinkette, I'll leave that there for now.**

 **Guest 3: I never realised just how much people seem to forget that there are other royals except for Chrom, Lucina and family, everyone else just seems to get left to the wayside, and yes, a little spoiler for next chapter, Chrom is going to have a nice little realisation coming to him.**

 **And done, I don't really have any recommendations today, there hasn't been any material that has interested me lately, I'm not a terribly huge fan of Lucina x Robin and neither am I a fan of Corrin x Azura or Camilla, so nothing much to talk about. Now after a heavily extended authors note, onto the chapter...man its good to be back.**

* * *

Chapter 3- Wyverns and Riders

"So, this is the Wyvern Valley, Cherche you said this is where you encountered Minerva for the first time, right?" Robin started, taking in his surroundings. The mountainous area was unlike anything he had seen before, gorges that were as deep as they were wide, one wrong misstep would surely be calamitous. While Robin wouldn't call the flying reptiles as majestic as pegasi, he had to admit they had their own form of grace that was unique to their species, though strangely there didn't seem to be any in the area.

"Yes, back them I was training to be a cleric; however, I was feeling frustrated with my lack of progress and came here to blow off some steam. Minervykins found me when I was trying to heal a stranger who got a bit too close too quickly, one thing led to another and now here we stand, in her home once again." The Rosanne native explained, stroking her loyal wyvern, a new gold band adorning her finger.

"Again, congratulations on yours and Vaike's engagement." The tactician congratulated.

"Thank you again Robin, though I'm surprised that our leader hasn't found a blushing bride himself." Cherche replied.

"I've simply been too busy to even think about it, and the thought never really crossed my mind." Robin answered, even during the two years of peacetime his attention had constantly shifted between different priority's. Paperwork, diplomacy, pushing new laws and planning and organising not one, but two royal wedding's left him little free time to mingle outside of the Shepherds. Not to mention there were the other couples of the Shepherds weddings to attend, his role bouncing between best man and simple attendee.

"Yet it appears that someone has finally caught our tactician's eye?" The wyvern rider smiled slyly, looking at a certain pegasus rider coming towards them.

"What do you mean?" Robin asked, genuinely confused.

"I'm afraid that's a little private knowledge, Robin." Cherche remained aloof, turning away to mount her precious wyvern.

The white haired man just shook his head, still not quite understanding what the rose haired woman was talking about, a gust of wind drew his attention as the other flyer in the group as she dismounted from her own mount.

"Mission complete, sir." Cynthia saluted, miraculously managing to not trip over. "There doesn't seem to be anything amiss, but I saw some men grouping in the north of the valley." The princess explained.

"It would be best to go over there just in case, wyverns are rare creatures for the most part, it wouldn't be out of the possibility that they were poachers." Robin replied, already preparing himself for the possible battle.

"Aye aye captain Robin. You ready to ride again?" Cynthia asked, smiling sweetly, getting back on her pegasus.

"Ready when you are." He answered moving towards the winged horse, mounting it before the younger girl did.

"Rightio, let's go!" The pigheaded girl cheered, pumping her fist in the air, before motioning for her loyal companion to take off.

Ascending into the air, Robin gazed down at the rest of his companions, Cherche and Vaike were already in the sky with them, while the rest of them remained on the ground. Luckily, the distance they needed to travel wasn't very far. Looking over the horizon, Robin could already see some of the men that Cynthia had reported about, and, like he thought, were already trying to capture some of wyverns in the valley. Some of the villagers in the area had started an attempted resistance but had already been forced to retreat away for the force of the bandits. One man on the ground appeared to have spotted them and was waving them down, clearly in need of their aide.

"Cynthia, land down there." Robin commanded, pointing towards the waving man. "Cherche follow us down!" He shouted over.

"You got it." Cynthia replied, guiding the pegasus towards floor, Minerva and her rider's following closely behind.

The rush of the wind as the speedy descent hit Robin as he felt the rush of adrenaline, he honestly couldn't believe why he hadn't thought of joining his friends in the air more often, the feeling of being in the sky just felt right.

"Hail traveller, please we need your assistance, these poachers won't leave the wyverns alone, we don't have a force to deal with them, some of my friends are trapped on the other the other side of the ravines, I don't know how much longer they'll be able to hold out." The pot wearing man explained.

' _Why do all villagers wear pot helmets?'_ Robin thought to himself, remembering Donnel and how he never seemed to take his own off. "We'll do what we can, we luckily have an experienced staff user with us and have a surplus of Rescue staffs with us. Your friends and the wyverns will be safe." He replied.

"Oh, thank you sir, bless you." The villager cried his thanks. "There was another young man that I asked, but he refused outright, I tell you this because I fear for his safety, he should still be near."

"Don't worry we'll make sure he's safe, it's our job after all." Cynthia cheered. "You just get to safety we'll handle it here."

The man ran off, his pitchfork gripped tightly in his hands. Robin mentally checked how many wind tomes and bows were in storage, cringing as those were the least in need as Valmese forces weren't known for their flying units. They would probably end up going through half of their supply of the weapons. The clattering of hooves and feet drew him from his thoughts as the last of the remaining Shepherds arrived, the weapon carriage still being dragged by Maribelle's horse.

"Next time a warning before you go off galivanting off like that Robin, poor Jessica here could barely keep up." The noble glared from atop her mount, the stare promising pain should he mess up again.

"A-apologies Maribelle, but a villager waved us down, there is a poacher problem that we need to deal with." Robin stuttered, trying to avoid making eye contact with the miffed troubadour. "Anyway, milady we are going to need your expertise for this, there are some stranded men at the other end of the ravines, we'll signal when we have their position so you can transport them here."

"Very well, any other plans?" Maribelle asked.

"Yes, Henry, me and you need to take some wind tomes from our stock, there are a lot of wyverns that the poachers are using, it'll be the easiest way to defeat them, Gaius I hope you've been keeping up that bow training that me and Chrom assigned you with." The tactician explained.

"I've been practicing Bubbles, don't you worry." The thief replied.

"Good, Olivia, I want you to stay with Maribelle and Gaius in the centre platform, Henry will keep you safe. Owain you're with me and Cynthia, I need to make sure both the royals are safe, and keeping my eye on the both of you will be best for that." Robin continued.

"O-okay." The dancer answered, glad that she was able to stay with familiar friends.

"I would follow you till the end 'Master of Strategy', for I, Owain Dark, and the glorious Missletain, will aide you in this endeavour to rescue those who are unfortunate enough to have been trapped in this unruly battlefield." The future prince monologued, unaware that his target audience had long since tuned out his speech.

"Is he always like this?" Robin whispered to the 'youngest' princess next to him.

"It doesn't harm anyone, we just let him go with it, besides it entertaining." Cynthia smiled, entranced by her cousin's.

Robin sighed, he still couldn't believe that this was not only the prince of Ylisse, but the son of his gynophobic friend, he seemed to have inherited more of his mother's personality, though thankfully there were no pranks he had to deal with. "Cherche, you and Vaike will be on the right side of the valley, there seems to be the least resistance there. Vaike I expect your aim to be on par with the training that you should have been keeping up to date with." He finished, glaring at the blonde brute.

"Teach has been hitting targets right in the bullseye, he won't be missing these guys." The blonde man cheered, waving the bow in his hand.

"Good, now when I give the signal, Maribelle I want to you pull any refugees, Cherche I'll need you to do the same signal in case there are any on your side." Robin added, receiving a nod from the wyvern rider. "Now everyone break."

With that Robin joined Cynthia back on her pegasus as Owain made his way across the bridge, the sound of beating wings signified their rise into the air, the princess commanded her mount forward, all the while the tactician was willing himself not to look down. The sheer drop into the chasm below was enough to make anyone want to keep away from the valley.

"How are you doing back their Robin?" Cynthia asked, unphased from the potential drop.

"Trying to understand how you flyers are so fearless in this. That drop would put me off of flying forever." The tactician replied, deciding it would be better to close his eyes.

The pegasus knight giggled. "I'm used to this, the freedom it brings flying in the air like this, I wouldn't trade it for the world." She explained, letting out a whimsical sigh, you wouldn't think they were just about to start a battle.

"We must be getting close, I want you to fly above anyone who's over here, I'll send the signal." Robin delivered.

"What is the signal?" Cynthia asked, in the future, the dark sky made it difficult to see smoke signals, and only a few of them were trained in magic.

"It's a tome I bought from one of the many Anna's, she had a surplus of them and they are designed to create an explosion of colour that lingers for decent amount of time. I believe she called them flare tomes." The tactician explained. "They don't require a mana pool from anyone's innate magic abilities to use so they can be used by anyone, helpful for certain problems we may have."

"That sounds so cool!" The future princess explained, stars in her eyes. They had finally reached across the ravine, and there were two villagers, they were quaking, but where trying their best to keep a brave face. "We're here, there are two of them we need to get out of here."

"Right, as soon as we get them out of here we are going to engage the poachers." Robin explained, preparing his tome, as soon as they were above the first villager, he let the flare fly in the sky. Not long after, the familiar magic of a rescue staff swirled around the first of the defenders, before he disappeared from there sight. "One down, one left." He muttered, noticing that the second villager had started panicking having realised his friend wasn't there any more, that was until he noticed the Shepherds above him, as his fears were quelled, he waved a thank you as he, too, was whisked away.

"Job done!" Cynthia celebrated, before attempting to make a serious face, though Robin admitted that she looked more adorable than serious. "Now to smite these villains, I couldn't bear the thought of losing any of our animal partners." She sniffed, it brought a tear to her eye.

Robin chuckled at his companions almost bipolar attitude changes, the eccentric girl truly was a breath of fresh air for the Shepherds, both she and her cousin were like a hope in the darkness for them, even if in the future they failed, their existence in this time would be the reason why they will succeed this time. "Owain, continue to follow us, chances are that they'll some poachers on the ground, call if you need any help!" Robin shouted to the dark haired prince, who looked as though he was about to go on one of his monologues and tales of fancy. _'How IS this Lon'qu's son?!'_ The tactician put his hand to head, still unable to process it.

"Wyvern Lord's ahead Robin, what should we do?" Cynthia asked him, bringing him from his thoughts.

"We need to try and distract as many as possible, the less the main group has to deal with the better." Robin explained, prepping his Arcwind tome. The green energy feeling cool in his hands compared to the shocking sensation of tomes from the thunder family, sand the burning heat of those of fire. "Be careful of any of the ones with axes and especially of any spears with jaws, they are designed to deal with animals."

"You got it!" The blunette cried, readying her lance. _'C'mon girl this is your chance to impress him again.'_ She told herself doing her best to keep it together as the small horde of wyverns approached.

Robin let loose his first focused tornado, the sheer power was enough for the created turbulence to cause both mount and rider to start tumbling into the ravine below, the others continued on not sparing the pair a second glance. Cynthia started guiding her mount forward hoping to use her superior speed to outmanoeuvre her opposing flyer, surging forward she jutted her spear forward, like a makeshift jousting lance and impaled the closest Wyvern Lord in his shoulder, enough to knock him off balance but not enough to finish him. She was about to turn around and start another run when a flying sword came out of nowhere and knocked the rider off of his mount.

"What was that?!" Cynthia cried, looking around, before a longing cry drew hers and her partner's attention.

"NOOOOOO, MISSILETAIN!" Owain exclaimed, looking over the rope bridge, the sword lost forever, slipping through his fingers as he had finished off a swordmaster, and unintentionally defeating the flying poacher. "I…I should've known that it wasn't the true legendary blade, the slipperiness of butter across the handle, the obvious giveaway, but the colour was what led me to believe that the powerful sword of the legendary Eldigan had fallen into my possession. But it was a fraud…this is going right into the back of my naming book."

"OWAIN, please tell me you have another weapon with you!" Robin shouted to the distraught myrmidon.

"A true hero never carries a single weapon, behold!" The prince shouted, drawing from a second scabbard. "The Sacred Sword of Seven Stars, cutting through powerful creatures with lightning speed." He cried, rushing forward.

"Is every weapon he has named?" Robin asked his companion.

"Pretty much, he tries to get us all to name then so that we have a deeper connection with them and fight better, while I think it's cool and all, I prefer the names of heroes and their actions for inspiration." Cynthia answered, to the tone of the tactician shaking his head. "You know Lucina renamed the Falchion to Pointy Demon Spanker at one point cos of him." She continued laughing at the memory.

"Wait, what?" The tactician replied, unbelieving what she said.

"It's true, Lucy's so serious all the time that she doesn't understand jokes or even sarcasm, she thought that Falchion was a standard name for a legendary sword and thought that that was a good name, a bit too literal if you ask me." The blunette explained.

"For some reason, the way you say it I now understand it." Robin shook his head, why were all the future children so…quirky. "Anyway, we must get back to the battle at hand, these guys won't stop till we beat them all."

"Gotcha!" The princess replied, rearing her stead back at they continued with the battle.

* * *

Defeating the last of the poachers was simple, the powerful wind magic and arrows proved too much for the flying fiends, the aerial units proved their superiority and the grounded Shepherds were able to dominate their infantry opponents. Robin sighed, they had been able to save all of the villagers and rescued the wyverns, but the battle had been long and arduous, the poachers had seemed to have no end of reinforcements, but the death of the leader had weakened their morale, leaving the last to have been easy pickings for the specialist group.

"Finally, its over!" Cynthia cried, dismounting Rose and flopping on the ground, completely spent.

"While not the longest battle I've ever partaken in, but definitely among the top few." The tactician agreed, resisting the urge to slump over himself.

"My word, that one took a lot out of me." Maribelle spoke, the signs of magical exhaustion starting to show, being a staff user made it so that it took longer to be affected, but juggling wind magic between staff uses had drained her quicker than she had been expecting.

"You're telling me Twinkles, at least you didn't have to keep moving all the time, you're making me want to learn how to ride a horse here." Gaius added, rolling his shoulders, he hadn't had to use a bow for that long of time before, and his arm was starting to cramp now that the adrenaline had worn off.

"The Vaike knows what you mean." The blonde man was lying on the floor, face in the dirt, looking as if he had just finished one of Frederick's fanatical fitness hour's. "If it weren't for that wyvern rider that we found then who knows how much longer we could have been at it."

"Wyvern Rider?" Robin shot up when the blonde brute said that. "How did you get him to join you? The villagers said that he ignored them."

"Dunno, Cherche spoke to him and then he just followed us, in fact she's comparing wyverns with him right now." Vaike replied.

"We just finished in fact, but it's difficult to compare wyvern's when they are exactly the same." Cherche spoke up, Minerva following her as well as a masked man, his armour was completely black, but the stand out blonde hair contrasted against the dark armour, another wyvern was close to him as well.

"GEROME!" Cynthia cried, suddenly filled with her previous energy once more, bounding up to the rider.

"Must you be so loud, I'm right in front of you." He grumbled, his deep voice carrying much weight behind it. "I should've known you would not follow your sister's plan of keeping away from or parents."

"Says the one who just did that the same." The princess countered, if there were any signs of embarrassment on the masked man's face, his namesake hid it well. "What were you even doing here anyway?"

"As you know in our time, Minerva is among the last of her kind, I believed that by coming here she could live out the rest of her days in peace, but fate has had over plans for us." Gerome replied, Minerva nudging her head into him. "I must ask, where is Exalt Chrom, I would have thought that he would be leading the forces."

"Chrom is currently in Ylisse with Lucina looking for some of your other friends, I'm glad we have your support though Gerome." Robin spoke to the blonde youth.

"You must understand tactician, I will follow your orders, but that does not mean that I trust you." Gerome added.

"Considering Lucina's story, I understand why you would be quick to judge, but only through complete trust will an army come together and fight as one." The tactician retaliated.

"Hmmph, we shall see tactician." The wyvern rider grumbled, trying to turn away, but only to be interrupted by an arm snaking its way around him.

"We meet again fellow hero of justice; our final member has returned to us and now the Justice Cabal shall return to its glory days!" Owain cheered.

"Get off of me, Owain, I am no longer a part of that childish entourage anymore." Gerome growled, trying to escape the enthusiastic man's grip.

"Once a member, always a member!" Owain countered, before lowering his voice. "It's time to execute plan RxC." He whispered.

"I never agreed to help you with that, it should have never been conceived in the first place. I had no intention of meeting with the Shepherds of this time and neither should have you." The masked man replied.

"C'mon this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, the ship must set sail!" The prince cried, but was able to keep his voice low enough not to be heard.

"Grrrrr…fine." Gerome relented, though only because he knew that his friend would never shut up about it. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well it seems as though the first two phases have already been completed, we just need to make sure phases three through ninety nine go off without a hitch." Owain answered, not realising how idiotic it sounded.

"How do you have ninety nine phases for something like this, what could even be that long?" Gerome asked, resisting the urge to plant his palm to his face.

"I shall tell you fellow hero, now follow me!" The myrmidon cried, dragging the helpless man behind him.

The rest of the Shepherds just stared on at the two, oblivious to their drabbles as the taller prince dragged the wyvern rider away. Robin hoped that in time Gerome would come to trust him, but even then, he knew that it would be a difficult thing to accomplish.

"Don't worry about Gerome, Robin you'll be fine, he's just like the rest of us." Cynthia perked up beside him.

"Another reason why I cannot fail." Robin replied.

"You really won't, with us here there is no way you can, I believe in you!" The blunette cheered, resisting the urge to smother him.

"I thank you for that Cynthia, but even then, there is much that needs to be done. Now we have to make sure your friends don't wander off to where we can't find them." The tactician chuckled.

"Right behind yah!" The princess cheered, as the entourage of Shepherds looked on, a private conversation being required between them.

* * *

 _Meanwhile in Ylisse_

"Urghh, Freddy, I'm not a little kid, you don't have to follow me around everywhere." Morgan complained towards the great knight.

"I'm afraid your grandfather has requested it on behalf of your antics, princess, and it is also my duty to protect anyone of the royal family." Frederick explained, his face remaining stoic.

"You sound just like dad! I get into trouble one time and then I can no longer be trusted! WHERE IS THE FREEDOM?!" The young tactician cried to the heavens, falling to her hands and knees.

"You'll get it back once you can prove to us that you won't just randomly do something, we're still trying to stop the prank war that you and Lady Lissa have started amongst yourselves." The knight sighed remembering how it had started. Lissa had tried to get a form of revenge from causing her to faint before and had planted a frog in one of the younger girls draws, and from there it just escalated to a full on battle between the two.

"Great Aunt Lissa started it, I plan to finish it." Morgan answered, dusting herself off.

"I'm afraid it will have to wait, we need to have a quick war council." Chrom spoke, appearing from what seemed like nowhere.

"What's the matter gramps?" The tactician in training asked.

"Slaver's, I asked Cordelia to scout ahead since Frederick has been assigned to Morgan Watch." The exalt started, ignoring his granddaughter's small rant at there being an actual name for her punishment. "They are a blight on the halidom, no matter how many times me and your father have brought in sanctions and even outlawed the practice, they still appear every now and then, hopefully this is the last batch."

"Aptly put milord." Frederick replied, following his liege towards the tent, Morgan close behind.

Entering the tent, the usual suspects were gathered around the table, Cordelia wasn't normally there but acting as a scout for the time being had led her to become part of the entourage, Tharja had also joined being the only dark mage on hand had meant her expertise was essential.

"Cordelia, can you go over what you told us before about these slaver's?" Chrom asked the pegasus knight.

"Yes, milord. They are currently held up in a place known as Kidnapper's Keep, they are currently waiting to attempt to kidnap a girl who is trapped in the ruins of the place. The Slaver's are mainly comprised of Falcon Knights, Griffon Riders and a few Paladin's for good measure, the leader appears to be a Bow Knight, so Beast Slayer weapons are a must on all of our lancer's." Cordelia explained.

"We don't have many archer's outside of Virion, so wind magic will also be a must for Ricken and Miriel, I'll take a few tome's as well, we're going to need one group to distract the main force as a few of us sneaks in to help the girl trapped." Morgan analysed.

"You do know I can just hex them all to die a slow and painful death right. Maybe I'll make it six weeks, let them waste as many resources trying to aide themselves." Tharja spoke, ending with a dark chuckle.

Chrom cringed, the dark mage was, definitely, a bit too creepy for him, at least she hadn't tried to sneak aboard Robin's boat, wait, she had, but had been found out by the tactician and had been sent off with a dour expression. "While that's all we'll and good Tharja, we need to put these slaver's down now so that we have a chance of rescuing the poor girl." The exalt explained.

"Hmmph, fine, take the joy out of it for me." The dark mage relented.

"Don't worry love, I'm sure you'll be able to inflict as much pain on your enemies as possible." Virion perked up.

"There better be." Tharja replied, resigning herself to being out of the conversation for now.

"What else do you think would be best Morgan?" Chrom asked.

"For the most part I would need to see the terrain we'll be fighting on, but for the most part we will be split into two major groups, one larger one that will be distracting the main force, and the other will be smaller and infiltrating the keep, saving the girl." Morgan explained.

"Alright, we set off immediately, everyone dismantle your tents and lets end this blight." Chrom announced to resounding cheers, and a small 'yay' from Tharja.

* * *

 _Kidnapper's Keep, A short while later_

"Huhhh, I never thought this is where I would've been stranded." A blue haired girl spoke to herself. "Mother, Father. I'm sorry I was such a failure." The girl continued, drooping her head slightly, the feather seeming to go with her. She wore a green striped shirt with a green bracer on her left arm, green trousers with a brown belt that extended down to her brown boots connected with a metal bracer, she had a circlet on her head with a feather attached, on her back was a quiver full of arrows, sadly her bow had been misplaced so she was virtually defenceless.

"Why couldn't Lucina or Cynthia be here, they would be able to fight their way out of this." She moaned to herself, her confidence non-existent. She could hear the flapping wings of the enemy, their galloping horses were drawing ever closer, she knew her fate was sealed. But she saw a glimmer in her eye, in the corner of her sanctuary she saw it, the bow her father had given her so long ago, promising her that it would never miss so long as she would wield it.

"Maybe…maybe there is a way out. My-my talisman, where is it?" Picking up the bow, she started frantically searching for the wooden statue that her mother had bewitched. Finding it in her pocket, she could feel the surging power and confidence, the shy girl's personality instantly turning on its head in a way that would border on bipolar.

"BLOOD AND THUNDER! REPENT AND DESPAIR MORTALS, WE SHALL SEND YOU INTO THE EVERLASTING ABYSS!" She roared, moving up to her barricades, she started lobbing arrows over the wall towards her invaders, the speed and accuracy of the shots so precise that after every shot a groan of pain was heard.

From outside of the keep, Chrom was surprised at the sudden onslaught of arrows that was being bombarded over the wall, thankfully not towards the small group of Shepherds with him, but towards the enemy. "Seems she's not as defenceless as we thought, but still we must hurry." The prince spoke.

"Father, we should try and defend her first, make sure she's safe." Lucina spoke, she knew those yells and she would not let her friend fall.

"Right, Shepherds forward!" Chrom yelled, charging forward towards the eastern side of the ruined castle, his family close behind, Morgan still being guarded by Frederick, followed by Tharja and Virion, with Kjelle bringing up the rear, her armour restricting her movement. Moving towards the entrance, one lone Griffon Rider had somehow survived the onslaught was quickly approaching the unaware girl.

"No, gods please no." Lucina whispered to herself knowing her friend wouldn't be able to survive a hit from the rider's axe. An arrow sailing past her head, however, relieved her from her thoughts as it struck home between the rider's eyes, somehow going inside the helmet, causing the mount to screech as its rider fell limp.

"'Twas a thing of beauty!" Virion announced raising his bow into the air, while he was far from the most modest of Shepherds, he could certainly back up his boasting with the skill.

"Huh, what?" Distracted from her rampage at the sudden sound of a body dropping so close to her, the blue haired girl turned around, only to be surprised of not only at the appearance of a rescue, but who the rescue was. "Lucina?!"

"Noire! Thank goodness you're alright!" The future witness cried, running up to hug her fragile friend. "I'm so relieved we were able to find you so quickly."

"I-I'm fine, how long have you been here?" Noire asked the princess.

"I've been in this time since when father first found Robin, what about you?" Lucina replied.

"Only just recently, I woke up not too long ago, I was able to find a nice family who took care of me, but the slaver's…I…I couldn't do anything as they attacked…they told me to run, and…I…I need to do all I can to avenge them." The timid girl replied, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

"Oh Noire, I'm so sorry." The shorter girl answered.

"It…it was nice, having a family again…I just wish I could see my own again." The archer sighed.

"Well, you see…about that." Lucina scratched her head.

"LUCY, WE NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!" Morgan yelled, before letting loose a wind spell at an opposing flyer.

"Who was that?" Noire asked.

"That…I'll tell you later, but for now we're getting you out of here." The older blunette replied, gingerly dragging her friend with her.

"Oh, ok." The archer spoke, following behind her. Leaving the confines of her sanctuary she saw her rescuers in more detail, and to say she was shocked would be an understatement. "Th-th-the Shepherds?"

"Yes, I accidently revealed myself not that long ago, it was a mistake on my part, but it may be that it has been for the best." Lucina answered, before drawing the Falchion once more.

"Aunty, could really do with some help here!" Morgan cried again.

"Sorry Morgan." The princess apologised before jumping into the fray.

"Di-did she just call her aunty?" Noire asked to no one in particular.

"Hmmph, you there...girl." A sinister voice sounded from behind her. A voice Noire knew all too well, and struck just as much fear as it did both joy and relief in her.

"Ummm, y-yes." She tried to voice as best as she could.

"You have…a dark aura around you, one I've only seen in very few people." Tharja continued, skulking closer towards the girl. "And why is it, that you have my husband's bow?"

"We-well…" Noire tried to start.

"Well what?" The dark mage threatened, coming face to face with the archer.

"My-My-My talisman, I need my talisman." The blue haired girl reached for the idol around her neck, once again feeling the power within. "BLOOD AND THUNDER! IT IS I, YOUR FUTURE PROGENY. I HAVE COME BACK IN TIME TO-…wait what are you?" She yelled before her talisman was ripped away from her.

"No daughter of mine should need to rely on pointless trinkets. Hmmm, yes, the future me was good…very good." Tharja pointed out, while smiling to herself. "Child, why are so skittish?"

"In-in my time, yo-you were always using me as your guinea pig, it wasn't so bad at the start, but-but after father…died…you became more delirious, using stronger and stronger hexes, some of the after effects left me with feeling much weaker than I started. You gave me that talisman, saying it would help me grow stronger again." Noire explained.

"From what it sounds like, the future me entered into what a dark mage must always be careful of, a complete state of delirium, losing all sense of morals and sanity. Another question, when did I make you that idol?" The dark mage asked.

"Whe-when one of your curses went too far once, while you were still yourself, you made it for me, saying it would give me confidence, father gave me his bow at the same time." The archer answered.

"What the future me probably didn't explain was that all it did was help awaken your true strength, a catalyst so to speak, all it is now is a glorified paper weight, purely a means to an end for you, I'll give it back for now, but remember that you won't need to rely on it as much." Tharja finished.

"Moth-mother…" Noire started tearing up.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get all sappy with me. Also, your blood, I'll be needing some of that back." The dark mage smiled, drawing a small sacrificial dagger.

"Wha-what?! I mean, Blood and Thunder, my blood will remain in my body!" Noire stuttered, before yelling resolutely.

"Hehehehe." Tharja chuckled darkly.

"MWAHAHAHAAH!" The archer joined her mother in maniacal laughter.

"Oh great, this is getting out of hand…now there are two of them." Chrom moaned to himself, one crazy dark mage was bad enough.

"I know what you mean." Morgan agreed, thinking back to some of her friends.

* * *

When the battle was finally finished, there were some injuries, though nothing that warranted urgent attention, but they were still ushered into a medical tent which had been set up. Noire was resting there, after her anaemia had started acting up leading her to nearly faint once the fighting was done, Lucina and Kjelle were visiting her, thankful that their friend was alright.

"Mother has been teaching me how to ride a horse, and father has been teaching me how to make…edible food, after the disaster of yesterday." Kjelle finished, having explained her story.

"Wow…I can't believe you hospitalised the whole camp again." Noire laughed to her friend's story, it felt just like old times.

"Though it wouldn't have happened if that little devil you call a niece hadn't desecrated my armour." The purple haired knight glared at her leader.

"Yes, but you chased her around camp, in petty revenge I might add." Lucina argued back.

"My Armour, Lucina…My…ARMOUR!" Kjelle tried to drive the point home…she was far too addicted to that hunk of metal.

"You are far too attached to that, but you did insult Cynthia, so, I would say you had it coming, somewhat." The princess countered.

"Ummm…can someone explain this to me, like, how does Lucina have a niece, and who was the father anyway?" Noire asked, interrupting the argument amongst two of the most powerful women she knew, realising that, she started shrinking back under the covers. "I mean, if you want to that is."

"It's fine Noire, we just got carried away. As you know, Morgan is my niece, and so is Cynthia's daughter. Her father, as you can probably tell from the cloak…is Robin." Lucina announced.

"But…but how? How is she here?" The archer questioned.

"She said it was a decision Naga gave her, to spend more time with her family." The princess answered.

"We-well, I'm happy for Cynthia, she got her dream to come true, hehe." Noire smiled, remembering all the conversations she had with the younger princess about the topic.

"I still don't like it, she's a little demon that one." Kjelle spoke, crossing her arms across her chest in assertion.

"I'm sure she's really sweet once you get to know her." The blue haired archer tried to argue, that was until a shrill squeal was sounded.

"MORGAN!" Lissa yelled, rushing out of the medic tent with red paint covering her dress and some of her face.

"SEE! She's the devil incarnate." The knight pointed, proving her point.

"Pfffftttthahaha, oh I'm definitely winning now." A voice sounded beside them.

"Wahhh!" Noire shrieked, jumping a little.

"Oh hey, you're the archer whose name is a colour. Name's Morgan, prankster, tactician, princess and all round genius, now I gotta run before Freddy finds me." The tactician in training explained, before dashing out underneath the side of the tent.

"Well…that…was unexpected." Lucina blinked, how none of them noticed the young girl was there baffle her.

"Modest that one, I tell yah." Kjelle grumbled, before standing up and stretching. "Well, I don't know about you girls but I'm tired and I need to hit the hay, I'll talk to you in the morning." The knight said, before leaving the tent without so much as waiting for a reply.

"She hasn't changed a bit." Noire spoke, giggling, having recovered from Morgan's sudden appearance and just as sudden disappearance.

"Sometimes I can't decide if that's a good or bad thing with her." Lucina replied with a sigh, before standing herself. "But she's right, try and get some sleep, you've had a hectic day, and we all need our rest." She finished before leaving the tent herself, leaving the archer alone.

Realising she was all by herself, Noire thought it would be best to try and rest herself, being on the run the last few days had left little time for her to be able to get a decent sleep. Just as she was about to nod off, a poke to her side woke her up, struggling to open her eyes, they were jolted opening after seeing the young tacticians face beaming at her in the darkness.

"Hello again." Morgan waved, though it was hard to see.

"M-M-Morgan! What are you doing here?" The older blunette asked.

"Freddy caught me, and as punishment I have to spend the night in here helping Great Aunt Lissa with the patients." The younger girl said, scratching the back of her head.

"But why did you wake me up?" Noire asked again.

"Mom always said you were a good listener, so I thought now would be a good time as any to talk to you." Morgan answered.

"What did you have in mind?" The archer spoke, ready to lend an ear.

"Alright…here goes…when, when you were in the future, how…how did it feel knowing that every time your parents left…it might have been the last time you saw them?" The young blue haired girl asked.

Noire was not expecting that sort of question to come out of the girl's mouth, when she had seen her before and just now, she had been a peppy and hyper, but for her to suddenly ask such a sombre question had left her stunned, but seeing as how Morgan was waiting on baited breath for an answer, she knew she had to say something. "Well, I was scared, knowing that I may not have ever seen them again, especially while I was a young girl, it frightened me a lot. But at the same time, I knew why they were doing it, not only as heroes, but to also protect me and my friends, to try and make a better future for us to live in." Noire answered, hoping that it was the right answer.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too, I knew what my parents were doing, but it always scared me knowing I may not have seen them again." Morgan replied, still leaving much unsaid.

"I hope I was able to answer your question well enough." The archer hoped.

"It was right, for the most part anyway. Thanks for this, I'll see you in the morning, don't want someone shouting at me for lazing on the job, know what I'm saying." The younger girl beamed, before leaving the older girl alone.

"Hehe, see Kjelle she's not all bad." Noire smiled to herself, before feeling her eyes droop.

* * *

 _Meanwhile in Valm_

Robin was in his tent, finishing off going over some of his notes, everyone else had, more or less, settled in for the night. Most of the papers and scrolls he had were based on the recent movements of the Valmese army, it seemed as though word had yet to reach them about the failure of the invasion force so they were in the clear for now, most of the places they had visited had been thankful for their help and they had been fortunate enough not have run into any spies yet, they were meant to have a day's rest tomorrow before heading towards a religious shrine in the north, Maribelle insisting on it, close to the capital. It was dangerous, being so close to the enemy's central seat of power, but the information they could acquire would be invaluable for the upcoming campaign, he was just finishing putting his notes away and signing a few documents when a voice sounded outside his tent.

"Robin, you still awake?" The voice of Cynthia spoke, bringing his attention.

"Yes, is there something you need?" He asked.

"Is it okay if I come in, just for a talk?" She answered his question with another question.

"I'm not busy so you're welcome to come in." Robin replied, as the tent flap opened up, and the peppy girl walked in.

"Thanks. How do you keep this place so tidy? Mine always looks like a mess." The princess said as walked in, surprised how clean the place was, she wasn't watching where she was going however and slipped on a stray piece of paper, she braced herself for impending pain, but once again, the arms of the resident tactician kept her from falling.

"You really should watch were you're going sometimes, could help you a lot in the long run." He smiled down at her, not noticing the heat that was building in her cheeks.

"Ye-yeah, I'll do my best." Cynthia replied, reluctantly withdrawing from his arms, Robin felt strangely sad at that.

"Anyway, what is it that you wanted to talk about? You seemed quite eager to say it?" Robin asked.

Cynthia breathed, trying to rebuild the courage she had before coming inside. "Well, since we have the day off tomorrow…I was thinking we could head into town together, just the two of us…to get know each other better, as partners of course!" She answered, quickly adding in the last part to ease her own awkwardness.

Robin felt a wave of disappointment hit him when she spoke the last part, but he shook it off as nothing. "I would love that Cynthia, it's been far too long since I last had a day off and spent it with a friend." He replied.

"So that's a yes?" She asked hopefully, eyes beaming.

"Hehe, it's a yes." He chuckled, not able to resist how adorable she looked with that face of hers.

"Woop, it's a date, I'll see you tomorrow." Cynthia celebrated, before rushing out of the tent, doing her best to hide the redness on her face.

Robin chuckled to himself at the speed she ran out at, but one thing she said at the end stuck in his mind, before realising struck. "She said it was a date…did I seriously just get asked out on a date?" He asked himself, he was probably reading too much into it, but the idea got his heart racing. "It might be best to consult with Maribelle tomorrow before I meet with Cynthia, just to go over some proper manners and actions." The tactician reaffirmed to himself, before deciding it would be best to settle down for the night. Blowing out the candle, he tucked himself into his bedsheets, before drifting off to sleep, thoughts of the blue haired pegasus knight circling his dreams.

* * *

 **A/N: So we now have anime Batman and someone who could easily find a home with the Orcs of Warcraft. References galore in this one, name them all if you can. Morgan has a deep moment with Noire, who I always feel would be the best for some people for talking too, she seems to bring a relaxing presence, dunno why. Now be honest with me here...am I going too fast with the romance, I understand I've put myself on a time limit for this but tell me if you think I'm going too fast. Also...7.5k chapter...longest thing I've ever written, 8.6k with author's notes...tells you how long these are right.**

 **Now we have a nice little question of the day for this one: Who do you want to see in Fire Emblem Heroes next? Simple right, is it weird I'm expecting a lot of Ike's for this one. Well he is the most popular character after all. Anyway leave your answers int he reviews, all criticism if welcomed and I have to see you guys, next time.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm terrible at scheduling. HAPPY EASTER TO THOSE WHO CELEBRATE THIS THING. Apologies, but I've just been a busy so I'm just happy I've been able to finish this, shorter than usual chapter, sorry about that, but next chapter is going to have A LOT of explanations and backstory, namely for the little ball of terror. Now I will explain, that I'm going to put 'A Princess's Story' and 'A Robin's Final Fantasy' on hiatus for a while, I tested my waters with how much of a workload I could handle and I'm unable to work on four stories simultaneously without being burned out or rundown. I do have a chapter in the works for A Noble Pursuit and that will hopefully be up next week, right now I'm going to start alternating chapter uploads for this story and Noble Pursuits weekly, they are my most followed stories and I hope that followers of those other stories aren't disappointed, again I deeply apologise for that. Now onto the reviews:**

 **TatsuiChiyo: Is it bad I want to fangirl really hard right now. Yeah this pairing is criminally underrated, most of the second gen pairings are, Lucina just seems to be the be all and end all for most of them. I was honestly pretty glad when I got Ninian myself, is ti too much to ask if they do a remake of Binding Blade to have Roy also be a manakete, I mean he is the son of a dragon after all. Sir I could not sing your praises hard enough, kinda the reason why I got into writing myself honestly.**

 **Johnshark: Thanks, I'm not usually confident in some of these chapters, I think I put in too much** **dialogue. Yeah, some of the more lesser known but important characters need to be in Heroes, I wouldn't be surprised if we get more Anna's either.**

 **JamesBCrazy: Pfftt, ok that was pretty good, I'll give you that, and you're right we need more villains and just plain trolls in general for Heroes.**

 **Draen: Eirika is sooooo good, I've been falling in love with her character because of Heroes, buff sqaud rollout. Surprisingly I've been making a ton of headway with Setsuna in it, Brave Bow + Life and Death...she's the only reason with I got 4* Navarre, Nowi's been amazing also.**

 **Guest 1: I thank you good sir.**

 **Guest 2: Always nice when someone says they look forward to something you do.**

 **Jordanlink7865: You don't question the pot, the pot is love, the pot is life. Donnel praises the pot, and so it bestows him the strength of a thousand soldiers. It's why Mozu isn't as good, she has no pot.**

 **Whoop done, now I hope you enjoy this chapter, its a bit short as I said before but still, on with the chapter:**

* * *

Chapter 4- Dragon Date

Robin was stood outside of Gaius and Maribelle's tent, he had woken up early that morning, a mix of excitement and nervousness prevented him for getting more rest. It wasn't that he hadn't been on what may or may not be a date before, well…he hadn't actually, the closest thing to a date he had had with someone was the necessity to have one for the weddings he had attended, and they hadn't advanced much past that. He had spoken to the couple at breakfast saying that he needed to speak to the two privately afterwards.

"Just act naturally, this is a perfectly normal question to ask." Robin tried explaining to himself, trying to keep some semblance of self confidence, he was sweating buckets in worry, this must have been what the princess had been feeling the night before. He was drawn out of his self deprivation by the tent flap opening out of the corner of his eye.

"So, are you just gonna stand there or are you waiting for an invitation Bubbles?" The orange haired thief teased. "Come on fearless leader, what is it that you need to talk to us about that no one else needs to know?" Gaius continued, before walking back into the tent, Robin following behind him.

"It's something I thought that the two of you would be more experienced with than myself." The tactician answered back.

"What is it that could possibly be something that you lack experience in Robin?" Maribelle asked, before sipping from a cup of tea.

"Ummm…well…how does someone act while on a date?" Robin stuttered out, causing the blonde noble to spit out her tea, and making the thief nearly choke on the sucker in his mouth.

Sputtering and recovering from the unexpected question, Gaius was able to come to his senses first. "Gotta say Bubbles, was not expecting that to come out of your mouth?"

"Heavens, darling, next time a word of warning before you say something like that. Now what is it that could possibly have happened for you to need to ask that sort of question?" Maribelle questioned, glaring at the tactician.

Turning to avoid the gaze of the irate noble, Robin started. "Last night, Cynthia asked me out for the day, now I'm probably overthinking it, but before she left, she said that it was a date." He explained.

"Bubbles…you have no idea how proud I am of you right now." Gaius sniffed, wiping a fake tear from his eye.

"Cut it out." Robin sighed, as the thief started laughing.

"There isn't much to really say Robin, just act how you normally do and it should work out just fine." The noble answered, ignoring her husband's behaviour. "Just be the proper gentleman I taught you to be and your date will go exactly as planned."

"As you say, thank you Maribelle, now I believe I shall take my leave to get ready, I'll see the both you tonight." Robin bid farewell, leaving the tent.

Gaius finally recovered from his laughing fit to glance over at his wife, a smirk still present on his face. "So, about those sweets." He grinned victoriously.

Sighing, Maribelle resigned to her fate and pulled out a bag of toffee's that she had promised him. "Why do I ever think to make a bet against you?" The noble shook her head, as the thief opened the promised pouch and started stuffing the sticky sweet into his mouth. "Must you be so uncouth?"

"Toffeeeeeeeeeeeee." Was the, almost, lust filled response of Gaius.

Maribelle only sighed again.

* * *

Cynthia, for the first time in a long time, was fretting over what to wear. Coming from the future had left her with very little in terms of additional wardrobe, yet still the future Shepherd had been gifted quite a few dresses and casual wear by her elder generation, even a sewn shirt gifted to her by Cherche, being the only new female in the group sure had its perks.

"Then even after this I still need to do my hair, I need as much help as I can." Cynthia groaned to herself, flopping onto her bed. She put her hands to her face and let out a silent scream of frustration. "I'm probably overthinking this, I mean I did say it was a date when I left but still it's the idea of it."

"Cynthia, dear, is everything okay?" A voice sounded from outside.

"Yeah, I'm okay, but I…I think I could use some help." The princess admitted, welcoming in the person outside.

Opening the tent flap, the rose coloured hair of Cherche flowed into the makeshift room, her eyes spanning over the space, noticing all of the clothing strewn around. "I can see why you need help, but I don't understand what it is that you need all these clothes for." The wyvern rider explained.

"Ummm…I may have asked Robin out on a date." The pegasus knight revealed.

Cherche smiled at the young girl, after Robin had left them on the day they found her, Henry had spilled the beans on the what the rest of his crows had told him, namely about how the young princess admired the tactician in her youth and had a crush on the man, she had asked how the birds had found this out the dark mage had simply laughed his usual laugh, though a quick glare from the wyvern rider shut him up and he revealed that they had read her diary, sneaky little buggers indeed.

"So, you're just frustrated over what to wear then, that's perfectly understandable dear. I'll help you as much I can, now let's get to work, not to mention we could try a different style for your hair." Cherche answered, moving over to help sift through the dresses that still remained in the bed.

"Thank you so much Cherche." The eccentric girl smiled, hugging the older woman, who returned it earnestly.

Outside, a dark haired myrmidon was snooping around listening in to the conversation, smiling as well as letting some dastardly thoughts go through his head, believing he had heard enough, Owain rushed to his blonde haired friends tent with gusto.

* * *

Tending wyverns was a no easy feat, their scales were rough and were a pain to clean, the sharp fangs that housed inside of their mouth were arduous and deadly, only complete trust was enough for a rider to clean the teeth of one. Gerome had performed this routine hundreds and thousands of times, ever since he was a young child, his mother had guided him in the steps of how to properly wash a wyvern, Minerva being the practice dummy. While the young boy had been originally scared of the large winged reptile, the two grew close to where fear turned into awe and inspiration. Only the wyvern knew the young male's deepest and darkest fears and secrets.

Gerome dropped the brush into the water filled bucket next to him, after the being dragged away by Owain the previous day had left him no time to clean his precious Minervykins meaning that he had to work twice as hard to maintain her health and stature, to an outsider, it must have been strange to see such a fearsome creature such as a wyvern, let alone one as ferocious as Minerva, covered in suds and looking like a dog that was in a bath. Wiping his brow, the blonde picked up the other bucket of water, and dumped it over the wyvern, washing the leftover soap off of her.

"And done, I hope you are feeling much better Minerva, yesterday was quite hectic for you, again I'm sorry for not being able to care for you last night, Owain can be quite hyper at times." Gerome spoke to the elderly wyvern.

Minerva growled in understanding, being the eldest and acting as a sort of makeshift baby sitter, the wyvern had seen and experienced all there was to offer from the children. The eccentricities of the prince were not foreign too her, a quick sniff and she recognised the smell of the Ylissean royal coming inbound.

"Gerome, I know you're here." His voiced cried.

"Just when I thought I had some peace and quiet." Gerome whispered to himself. "What is it that you want Owain?" The blonde man asked.

Appearing around the corner, the myrmidon ran towards his fellow member of the Justice Cabal, a look of pure excitement on his face. "Something truly amazing has happened my partner in justice." The dark haired man exclaimed.

"Has Grima been felled?" Gerome asked, sarcasm laden in his voice.

"No, not exactly." Owain backpedalled, confused at his friend's response.

"Then it is not 'truly amazing' as you put it, now leave me be." The wyvern rider growled turning away.

"C'mon, it really is awesome, just let me tell you." Owain tried to argue, not letting the wind be taking out of his sails.

"Grrrr, fine, out with it." Gerome growled, submitting to his friend's request.

"Justice Cabal member Cynthia and Master Strategist Robin are going to partake in an outing together." The prince squealed, jumping in place.

"So, they are going on a date." Years of listening to his friend had helped him decipher his many words.

"Take all the fun out of it for me, but yes my dear friend you are, indeed, correct." Owain groaned before retaking his usual manner.

"Good for her, now why is it that you must bother me with it?" Gerome asked.

"Simple, we're going to tail them and make sure that everything goes right." The prince explained as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"No." Gerome answered flatly.

Kicked from his high horse once more, Owain spluttered around nonsensically at the sudden response, the wyvern rider's stoic stance contradicted his eccentric attitude a large amount, yet they get along well enough. "But you promised to help with RxC." The prince whined.

"That does not mean we have to tail the two, if anything they seem to be doing just fine on their own." Gerome replied, moving the empty buckets around.

"We are not tailing, my friend, merely observing." Owain reasoned.

The blonde growled to himself, he knew he couldn't reason with the charismatic man in front of him, he had inherited his mother's ability to cheer up anyone, yet also his father's social anxiety, turning everything into a play was just easier for him, but it was his mother's inheritance that was bearing its head. Gerome had never won an argument with him, most of the time he tried had ended with him being too tired to continue and just gave in, as they grew older, the wyvern rider just stopped early to save himself the trouble, and once again he had to resign himself to that fact.

"Fine, but that is all we are doing, no interfering." Gerome argue, laying down his terms.

"That was the only intention, now my friend away, we must prepare!" The myrmidon celebrated his victory, by dragging his friend away from his wyvern.

"Minerva help, this lunatic is crazy!" The blonde cried desperately, Minerva growled in a way that resembled a laugh, raising her right wing in a way that resembled a wave, as her rider was whisked away by the prince.

* * *

 _In Ylisse_

"Ok, who names something 'The Manor of Lost Souls', are you trying to create an urban legend?" Morgan asked to no one in particular, she along with the rest of the Shepherds were on a group of sailboats crossing the small body of water to the island that housed the manor. Apparently groans and the scent of death had been polluting the place lately and the Shepherds has been asked by the port town to see what was going on.

"I do not know Princess but the mansion has been abandoned long before our time, it more than likely gained the title from the original residents of the port town." Frederick explained from beside her. The need to watch the young tactician was still in effect, how she had been able to escape his gaze confused most of the Shepherds, though when asked, the great knight would aim to change the subject as quickly as possible, turning away to hide his face. He would never admit it was because the girl had snuck game meat into his dinner, and had been relieving himself, for very long length of time.

"Then why hasn't anyone changed it, countries and states are always changing, why can't landmarks." Morgan retorted.

"Myths and legends need a reference to exist otherwise they turn to dust rather than gold." Frederick answered.

Morgan went back to her thought, the conversation she had with Noire the previous night was on her mind. She knew what the skittish girl was saying, but was her case really the same as hers, the friends she had made would always answer the same and now so had the person she was hoping would give her an honest answer, and she did, that was her honest answer. So then why did she still feel like she had no closure. The young tactician shook her head, she was probably overthinking this, but still, being unable to see her parents was really driving the worry home. Or maybe it was the boat, which she was currently hunched over the side of.

"This is why I prefer the air, boats suck!" The young girl moaned, Frederick rubbing her back.

"Now you know how I feel with game meat milady." The great knight reprimanded.

"Why do boats have to rock so much?" A voice to their side sounded. Looking over, the princess and her guardian watched as Chrom and Lucina were hunched over the bow of the ship as well, Sumia doing her best to reassure them as Lissa laughed on the side, completely fine.

"Father, please, make it stop." Lucina moaned, not used to the experience of the rocking ship.

"It's not much longer dear, we'll be on land in no time." Sumia answered her daughter, massaging her back.

"You guys can't even hold onto your lunches just from a small boat ride!" Lissa laughed, on the verge of rolling on the deck.

"LAND HO!" The lookout in the crow's nest cried, much to the relief of those suffering with seasickness.

"FREEDOM, SWEET RELIEF!" Morgan celebrated, joy filling her small stature, before the growling in her stomach reminded her what was happening. "Oh gods no."

* * *

The inside of the manor was definitely not what they expected. For somewhere that had long since been abandoned, the inside was very clean and well maintained, even the suits of armour and paintings that littered the walls were relatively new, as if someone had indeed been living there in seclusion until recently.

"I thought this place was supposed to be abandoned, looks pretty habited to me." Morgan spoke, her voice echoing off of the walls. "Hey an echo! ECHO!"

"Please restrain yourself milady, we do not know what kind of enemies we might run into, or if the current residents are hostile or not." Frederick reprimanded, walking behind her. The mounts of the Shepherds had been left outside with a few guards, while the mansion was indeed large, it wasn't big enough for the horses of the group to move freely, especially the winged variants.

"While normally I would say to let her have her fun, but this time I must agree with you Frederick, this place has been reported to have sounds that a risen would make." Chrom agreed, the Shepherds had been split off into groups, those that guarded the outside, those that went left, that went right, and those that took to the upstairs. The royal family, along with Frederick and Noire had took to the upstairs, why Noire wasn't with her family was that it was better to have a bow user in each group.

"AHHHHHH!" A loud shriek sounded from down the hall.

"That was not a risen!" Chrom shouted, stating the obvious.

"Whoever it is, I would be in our best interest to rescue them. Now let's get to work!" Morgan cried, pointing towards her grandfather to lead the charge.

Moving down the long corridor, they did, indeed, encounter a number of Risen, stronger than some of the ones they fought before, but was able to be taken down with teamwork. Finishing their way along the mansion, one of the walls, somehow, destroyed itself.

"What in the world?" Chrom asked, the wall seemed completely stable, but it just broke itself down.

"Maybe time is starting to get to it milord." Frederick answered.

"Anyone wanna check down there, we're at the end of the hallway and we didn't see anyone who could have made the scream." Morgan piped up.

"I'll check." The exalt said, making his way into the wall, it was broken only halfway so it just made it even stranger, almost as instantly as he passed through the all, it magically repaired itself.

"FATHER!" "GRAMPS!" "MILORD!" "CHROM!" A multitude of different voices cried out, each with a different phrase depending on their relation to him.

"SHEPHERDS! I FINE, JUST HOLD ON I'LL FIND A WAY OUT IF THIS!" Chrom shouted back, hearing the groans of approaching risen from beyond the wall, he needed to hurry.

"Hey, you got trapped here too huh?" A young voice sounded behind him.

Surprised, Chrom turned around to be met with a, seemingly, very young girl. She had dark red hair and purple eyes, she wore a ruffled white dress, a red cape around her shoulders, held by a chain with a small green jewel hanging from it. The girl had bright red thigh high boots and stockings. But her most defining feature were the pointed ears she had.

"You're…you're the one we heard scream before?" He asked.

"I wasn't scared, just surprised. It just popped out of nowhere." She argued back, holding her arms across her small frame.

"Fair enough." Chrom replied, not bothering to argue. "Would you mind telling me your name?"

"Nah." The red haired girl answered.

"I…I'm sorry if I offended you in anyway, but I think it would help if I knew." The Exalt was stunned at her response, what had he done.

"No, Nah, it's my name. Don't worry it's not the first time its happened." Nah confirmed with a sigh, why did her mother have to name her a weird name.

"That…is certainly confusing." Chrom replied in understanding, before a large crash sound and the tumbling of wood and rubble make its presence known.

"See, I told you using one of his techniques would break the wall down, do you know how many times dad had to replace the training dummies because of him. There was a part of the Shepherds budget title 'Chrom's Training Mishaps'." One voice sounded.

"Yes, I suppose you are right. Success it seems." Another pointed out.

"Lucina in here!" Chrom shouted, making sure they heard him.

"Lucina! She's here?!" Nah asked a mixture of confusion and joy in her voice.

"Father. Thank goodness you're alright." Lucina answered, appearing from behind the wall. "Nah?! You're here?! I'm so glad you're safe." The future princess cried, running to hug her youngest friend.

"I'm fine, takes quite a lot to take a dragon down." Nah chuckled out, returning the embrace.

"Dragon? The you are a manakete, Nowi's daughter I'm guessing." Chrom stated.

"Yeah, though I don't know what she looks like, I was too young to remember to her." The young dragon spoke out.

"Gods, I'm so sorry Nah, we'll make sure it never happens again." The blue haired man replied, determination filling him.

"Yoh, everything good over here, we need to get everyone else and get outta here." Morgan said, waltzing up to the trio.

"Uhhh, who are you?" Nah asked.

"Oh, yeah, right, never seen me before. Name's Morgan, daughter of Robin and Cynthia." The young tactician smiled.

"Lucina, she's joking right, tell me she's joking." The young dragoness asked worryingly.

"I'm afraid it's true Nah, she has the brand of the exalt to support her claim, as well as Robin's cloak. Morgan is indeed my niece." Lucina replied.

"This…is…terrible!" Nah whined, now there was another one who would who would get on her nerves. "I'm never gonna get a moment of peace no-HEY! Get off! What are you doing?!" The young girl shouted.

"But your ears! They're so pointy!" The tactician squealed, pulling and rubbing the extensions. "When we get out of here, can I ride on you?! I'm smaller than mom and it would look awesome!" Morgan added, this was one of her dreams right here.

"No bad touch! I NEED AN ADULT!" Nah cried, feeling violated.

"I am an adult!" Morgan replied victoriously

"I NEED AN OLDER ADULT!" The manakete shouted louder.

"Morgan stop, down girl!" Chrom commanded moving to the girl and dragging her off of her prey.

"Nuuuu, I need it, they're sooooo soft! They look like handlebars!" The young tactician cried reaching forward trying to try and keep a hold of the young manakete's ears.

* * *

One escape from the mansion and a regretful boat ride later, the Shepherds had made it back to the port town unharmed, Nah had been introduced to her parents, Ricken had been glad that he was no longer the shortest Shepherd, he would secretly cry tears of joy later that night.

In camp, it was the usual thing again, preparing where they would go next. Chrom was sat in his tent studying the map laid before him, apparently the desert was said to hold a secret village that would hold the mythical Goddess staff. Deciding on their next destination, he went back to his thoughts, specifically those about Morgan.

The girl has said that she never got to spend much time with her parents growing up, yet he couldn't think of how that might have been the case. Surely peace would come once they rid the world of the Conqueror and Grima, but even then they would be in the castle, were they would see each other every day. Sighing to himself, he decided to take the initiative and speak to the young girl about it.

Leaving his tent, he went in search of where he thought the tactician in training would be. The problem with that was, that there were many different areas of the camp where Morgan could turn up, at any time. Deciding to try and eliminate the easiest option first, he went to the young girls own tent to see if she was there.

"Morgan, are you in there? I have something I want to discuss with you about." Chrom asked from outside.

"Sure, come one in." Morgan replied, slightly muffled.

Walking in, Chrom could not believe the messy state the tent was in in such a short amount of time, books were strewn about the floor, maps and notes were in a mess on a desk. It was the complete opposite on what her father's tent would be like during the war.

"So, what is it that you want to talk about?" The young blunette asked, she was currently sat reading on her bed.

"I want to know, what it was you meant about what you said before, how you didn't spend much time with your parents." Chrom explained.

"Why do you want to know?" Morgan replied.

"It's just that…I don't know understand. Surely after the war with Grima there should be peace, so I don't understand how it is that your parents weren't able to spend much time with you." The exalt asked his granddaughter, strange, he didn't feel any awkwardness in calling her that.

"That's…a difficult question to answer." The young tactician started. "Tell me grandpa, have you ever heard of the kingdoms of Hoshido and Nohr?"

* * *

 **A/N: Dun Dun duuuuuuuunnnnnn! I think everyone should know where I'm going with this now! Apologies for the short chapter, I just wanted to set up a ton of exposition for next chapter. Also Nah, sorry she didn't get much screen time, I love the girl I do, but she'll be making more appearances later on, and I have something planned for her in a future story...she's also adorable, like really adorable.**

 **Now question for this week...ummm...lets see here...ahh, Which character's do you want to appear in Warriors, we know that we have Chrom confirmed but who else do you want to see? Personally I kinda want to see just a mass gathering and have it play like the Warriors Orochi games being able to switch between three characters on the fly seems to be good niche for Fire Emblem which I think would work well. Anyway with that I'll see you all next time...cut to black...cut to BLA-!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Holy hell, not only am I on time for an update...I'M EARLY! Now there is a reason for this. Starting today I will be hitting the books hard, coding isn't easy and I have to remember a lot of it for my exams, so don't be surprised if 'Noble Pursuit' is late on the update. In other news, we have nearly broken 100 followers on this story. Never did I ever think I would get this many for a story, I was surprised when I broke 30, so thank you all from the bottom of my heart. We still have a long way to go though. Now onto the reviews:**

 **JamesBCrazy: Nah, she is never getting over it, just wait till they meet Yarne...oh boy. I know not of this story, though please describe in detail. Never done a cliffhanger before so pleased to see it went over well.**

 **red qim: You'll just have to wait and see...please don't hurt me.**

 **TheHolyBlade: Phrasing...not something Morgan is good at, she has a heritage of people not knowing what to say correctly...*cough*Chrom *cough*.**

 **Draen: Cherche I just find as a character to just give off this motherly aura, Anime Batman just has to deal with it, poor sod. Yes, yes it is...trying to find where I can fit in a Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged reference...maybe I can call Minerva a 'Blue Peeps Honky Dragon' maybe...nah...wouldn't work. Fates just has too many connections to Awakening that I just couldn't resist.**

 **Artyom-Dreizhen: I thank you good sir.**

 **Guest: MY ESSENCE IS MINE AND MINE ALONE...BAD TOUCH! BAD TOUCH!**

 **I actually have a recomendation this time, and what else but TatsuiChiyo's 'Fire Emblem: Diverging Fangs', as a sequel to Retained Memories, nothing could be better, read it...I said read it! Also big shout out to the man for some motivation to work on this chapter.**

 **Now that thats all done...Onto the chapter! *squeak squeak squeak*...the cables need re-oiling.**

* * *

Chapter 5- Revelations

"That's…a difficult question to answer." The young tactician started. "Tell me grandpa, have you ever heard of the kingdoms of Hoshido and Nohr?"

"The mythical kingdoms?" Chrom stood flabbergasted and confused at Morgan's question. The last time he had heard of them was when…"Morgan? Do you know a Corrin?" He asked.

"I'm…actually surprised, I didn't think you would know them." The blunette was wide eyed, there was no tales of the dual royal ever visiting Ylisse.

"We met just before we found your father lying in a field. Some invisible beavers had gotten loose and they needed our help beating them. There were some others, a maid and a butler along with a pair of dark mages and a mercenary." The exalt explained.

"Huh…never knew that, I probably wasn't in the army at the time." Morgan muttered aloud.

"Wait wait wait wait?! You were in their ARMY?!" Chrom shouted.

"Yup, sit down this is going to be long." The tactician answered juvenilely. The former prince did as he was told and pull up the nearest chair as his granddaughter sat on her bed. "What I'm about to tell you must never leave this tent. It's of the utmost importance that no one else learns about this, it could change the timeline completely, butterfly effects are terrible to deal with."

"Very well. I swear none of this will be spoken to anyone else." Chrom raised his hand and spoke with the straightest and most serious face he could muster.

"Pinkie Swear it." She grinned, holding up her right pinkie finger.

"What?" Was all the exalt could say, it just seemed so childish.

"Mom and me used to do this all the time, and she told me she would always do it with you too, so pinkie swear." Morgan said again, still smiling but with all seriousness.

Chrom sighed and reluctantly did as he was asked. "Fine." He breathed out, sealing the deal.

"Great, now where to begin. Ah, at the end of the war with Grima…dad disappears." The blunette started.

"Really? Why does he disappear?" Chrom asked, in urgency, this was his best friend after all.

"I can't tell you that gramps, that's a bit too much. But it's too much for mom, she becomes depressed and her usual liveliness just…leaves her." Morgan admitted.

Chrom could understand why, he was the same when Emmeryn died, he could only imagine how bad it would be if the same happened to Sumia.

"After some time, her and some others from the future leave on a journey to find dad, during that time they met someone, and asked them if they could help save his world. Now with mom wanting to be a hero and all, she couldn't really refuse that offer. That was how they made it too Hoshido and Nohr…however they got separated." The young girl continued.

"How did that happen?" Chrom asked, with a little bit or urgency behind it.

"When they were going through the whole mumbo jumbo that would let them get them there, they were interrupted by the same beings that attacked you guys, and it disrupted the flow of the magic. While mom's friends ended up in Nohr, mom ended up in Hoshido." Morgan explained. "They were separated for a long time, a few years from what I was told, and they became retainers for the royalty, similar to how Freddy is with us, but they each had a partner to work with and an individual royal they each served under."

"A princess serving under another. Stranger things have happened I suppose." Chrom admitted, he was a prince following the orders of a tactician, so he could understand it somewhat.

"Time went by and then something happened, the missing royal of Hoshido returned home." The blunette continued.

"Who was that?" The exalt inquired.

"Corrin." Morgan answered, watching as her grandfather's eyes widened. "Yeah, fate had a written a painful story for them. Before mom and the rest had appeared, Corrin had been a royal of Hoshido, and the king, Sumeragi, had been invited too neutral territory for peace talks with the ruler of Nohr, King Garon. King Sumeragi thought it would've been a good idea to give Corrin some political experience and brought them along, but it was all a trap by Garon, killing Sumeragi and kidnapping Corrin, as well as locking away their memories, making them believe that they had been a royal of Nohr the whole time. What helped was that all of the children of the Nohrian royal family, except for the crown prince, had all been born of concubines of the king, an almost perfect cover story." The tactician explained.

"Wow, that's almost unbelievable." Chrom was flabbergasted, the story just seemed so crazy, but the way Morgan told it just seemed to be so real.

"I know right, you've seen crazy stuff happen, how do you think a kid would react to it." Morgan replied, remembering back to when her parents had told her about it. "In retaliation, Hoshido acquired the assistance of some ninja's from the region known as Koga, which had been absorbed into a state called Mokushu before I was born and tried to save Corrin. However, they had been moved to a different fortress than the main castle. Not wanting to leave empty handed, the ninja kidnapped the then youngest princess Azura."

"But that is just returning violence with more violence." The exalt interjected, had it been a couple of years ago, he would have done the same, but now…he had seen the error of his ways and would only resort to violence as a last resort.

"Exactly, Hoshido had hoped for the possibility of a hostage trade. But the death of the second queen of King Garon, who Azura was the daughter of, had removed any remorse the Nohrian court had for the young girl and ignored the event as if it were nothing. Azura was then raised as a Hoshidan princess under their new queen Mikoto, Corrin's mother, while Corrin was raised as a Nohrian royal." Morgan explained.

"So in reality they just traded places, how did the siblings take it?" Chrom asked, knowing the pain of losing a sibling.

"The youngest siblings hadn't been born at the time or at least were too young to remember them. Sakura, the youngest Hoshidan princess heard stories of their missing sibling but didn't really know them, she was shy and timid but cared for people as much as she could, only wishing to know of her missing sibling, but she grew close to Azura in return. Elise, her counterpart in a sense, but was the complete polar opposite in terms of personality, she was like a ball of sunshine, and since Corrin was trapped in a fortress for most of their life, sibling visits were a pleasure for them and Elise loved them like no other." The tactician started. "Leo didn't know Azura and already suffered through the political nightmare that was the Nohrian royal family, stoic and always trying to improve, he loved Corrin as a sibling but he was jealous that they stole the limelight. Takumi was the same in terms of personality, but he didn't trust Azura much, the political propaganda grew a deep hatred for Nohr in him, he didn't even trust Corrin when they returned home." She added.

Chrom soaked in what she was saying, the stories he had read on the two countries always spoke how they were always at war with each other. Nohr was a place of famine and disease, sunlight hardly ever broke through the permanent dark skies, being cold enough to even have a complete tribe that had the ability of cryomacy. War and conquest was what they did best, the resources needed for warfare were abundant in desolate land, while Hoshido's land was much more vibrant, farmland was fertile and the abundance of seafood allowed for the country to be quite well off, but they never thought to share with their struggling neighbours.

"Camilla…" Morgan felt a cold shiver go down her spine. "Camilla instantly adored Corrin, she would dote on them, the lack of motherly affection in her childhood, had a sharp negative effect on her, leading her to act like a mother bear, or in her case dragon, reacting violently to anyone who dared try and harm her siblings or retainers, her feelings to Azura were similar, but the children had been told to stay away from her, saying that she was toxic to them. Her Hoshdian counterpart, Hinoka, was in tears for weeks after her younger sibling was taken from her, in the end she stopped crying and instead started fighting, training herself to fly pegasi and attempt to rescue her closest friend, she got along well with Azura, both of them training in the Naginata, a curved lance." The young tactician continued. "The crown princes were stoic in their reaction, Xander, Corrin's Nohrian sibling, was a bit distraught that he couldn't protect his sister, but doubled that care on Corrin, actively training them when he could. Ryoma was stricter, trying to bring out the best in his siblings through tough love in a sense, he was distraught in his own way about what happened, believing he had failed as an older brother." She finished, talking about the siblings of Corrin was tiring work, there was eight of them after all.

"The way you talk about Elise and Azura, it seems like you were close." Chrom spoke up, having paid attention to the long winded speech.

"Elise was just fun to be around, always wanting to play with us and all of that. Azura was like an aunt, her signing was calming and helped everyone, similar to how Olivia's dancing worked." Morgan explained.

"After Corrin came Hoshido, what happened then?" The former prince asked, wanting her to continue her story.

"Right, back on track, sorry for that tangent but you asked." The blunette grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "That's where things went downhill, Takumi acted like they were a stranger, keeping them at arms length, while everyone else welcomed them back with open arms. But Corrin, they were just confused, Nohr was all they had known and remembered so being forced into that situation was taxing for them. They needed some time to clear their head and found Azura near a lake close to the palace, lured there by her singing, and was able to get some more clarity on the everything. Sometime later, Queen Mikoto thought it would best to hold a small festival to celebrate the return on their child and formally announce their return. But just before they could speak, a shadowy figured emerged from the crowd, and the sword that Corrin carried, the Ganglari, gifted to them by King Garon, was magically taken from them, before it was stabbed into the ground by the figure and exploded, destroying the centre of the plaza and killing many citizens." Morgan continued.

"A terror attack, right in the middle of that is certainly disastrous." Chrom commented.

"What's worse, some of the shrapnel from the explosion would have hit Corrin…had it not been for Queen Mikoto taking the impact for them. Her dying in his arms, and unable to do anything, triggered a feeling of rage within them, draconic rage. For the first time in that Hoshidan plaza, Corrin turned into a dragon." The tactician explained. "Though they were able to repel the invaders, Corrin's rage still blinded them, unable to calm down. It was only through Azura's song were they able to return to normal, it was at that point that Corrin was able regain all of their memories including of the day they were kidnapped. One of the things that was destroyed in the blast was the statute of the Dawn Dragon. Similar to how Ylisse and Plegia worship Naga and Grima respectively, Nohr and Hoshido each had their own dragon to look up to, the leaders all being descendants of the Divine Dragons and had their blood flowing through them. Inside the statue was the legendary Yato, a blade that could only be wielded by the chosen warrior, in this case it chose Corrin. But before anyone could properly grieve, a messenger informed then that Nohr was invading on their borders with a massive force."

Chrom was starting to become enthralled in the story now, he never really took the time to read many stories, what with leading the country and all, so this one was actually getting him hooked.

"Meeting them head on, Hoshido also set out with a force of their own, but not before Azura gave Corrin a dragonstone to help control their power, similar to how Nowi and Nah do. Once there, it Ryoma would face off against Xander, the two challenging each other. Had it not been for Camilla utilising a magic layline, which they called Dragon Veins, to dry up a river that was surrounding where they were fighting, no one else would have made it there. When Corrin appeared, the whole situation just escalated, arguing over who Corrin should be with and who's sibling they were. In the end, it all came down to their decision, a which fate they would choose would be up to them. Whether to uphold his Birthright and join with Hoshido to to seek Conquest with Nohr…" Morgan delayed the last part, smiling as she saw her grandfather on the edge of his seat…literally.

"And…what did they choose?" Chrom asked, the anticipation clear in his voice.

"Morgan, are you in there? I need to ask you about a certain tactician trying to force a young manakete to 'give her a ride'?" A voice, that could only belong to Frederick sounded from the outside. Chrom fell off of his seat at the sudden surprise and nearly cried in despair, story time was ruined.

"Uhhh, sorry gramps but it looks like we're going to have to cut this short…what are you doing on the floor?" Morgan asked, a brow raised inquisitively.

"I…may have jumped from the sound of Frederick's voice." The exalt admitted, looking down sheepishly.

"Morgan, I won't repeat myself, I know you're in there." The stoic knight was losing his cool.

"Gimme a sec!" She called out. "I'm so gonna hang this over you for the rest of this you know." The tactician grinned. _'Blackmail Material~!'_ She sing-songed in her head.

Letting out a sigh, the Exalt raised himself to his feet, moving to leave the tent. "Tomorrow we'll be in a desert to the south of here. A massive change in climate to where we just were, we'll be looking for a village, it's supposed to be a mirage and holds a Goddess Staff. After that…you're finishing your story missy." Chrom said, before leaving the tent, walking passed a surprised Frederick.

"Yo, Freddy, what punishment is it this time?" Morgan grinned to the great knight.

Frederick just sighed.

* * *

The town that was next to Wyvern Valley was quite a humble place. They had a marketplace, with a statue in the middle of the plaza of a man and wyvern standing side by side, the mad wielding an axe in his right hand, and petting the wyvern with his left. It was at this statue, that Robin was now waiting, his hair had been combed and been cleaned a lot more thoroughly than normal, he still wore his trademark cloak, but the rest of his clothes were sharper and cleaner, they clung close to him rather than baggily hanging off of him. He hadn't been there long really, he was just so anxious that he couldn't handle waiting in the camp anymore and had set off.

"Hey, Robin over here!" A high pitched, yet ecstatic voice sounded.

Looking over, Cynthia was jogging up towards him, and he was completely captivated by her. Similarly to him, her hair still was in the same design, her usual pigtails, which complemented her youthful and chidish personality, but rather than wearing her usual pegasus knight uniform, she had switched it to a light blue dress, it wasn't anything flamboyant, just something that everyone could where every day, but it just seemed to fit her perfectly. As she got closer, he could make out a small amount of makeup, not much, but just enough to highlight her features.

"Cynthia, you look…" He was speechless.

"What do you think?" The princess giggled, giving a small twirl.

"Beautiful." Was Robin's simple but apt description, watching as the flyer's cheeks started changing to pink.

"Hehe, thanks. You don't look to bad yourself." Cynthia smiled, looking him over.

"Shall we?" The tactician asked, presenting his arm.

"Lets!" She grinned, giving a small curtsy and taking his arm in her own, before setting off further into the town.

In a nearby bush, a myrmidon and a wyvern rider, being held against his will, were watching on with bated breath.

"They've met up and on the move, let's go." Owain whispered to his friend, grabbing his arm, somehow being able to actually whisper.

"Unhand me, I'm can walk fine on my own." Gerome retorted, hoping his glare would make its mark, though it was hard to tell if he was, considering his mask was in the way.

"Alright, but we need to move so that we don't lose them." The prince replied.

"Don't lose who?" A voice sounded from above the unlikely duo.

Being caught red handed, the pair looked above them to notice an orange haired, sticky fingered thief looking down on them with a knowing grin.

"Ahhh, Sir Gaius we were merely…" Owain could not come up with a good excuse.

"I know whats going on." Gaius smirked.

"Do you mean to put a stop to us?" Gerome asked, he was praying the thief turned noble would say yes.

"Nah, I want a piece of this pie. Bubbles has been by himself for too long, it's about time he settled down like the rest of us." The thief answered, much to the wyvern rider's dismay.

"Let us be off then, we must keep pace with the eventual couple." Owain cheered, before setting off, Gaius close behind, with Gerome waddling along at the back wishing he had sane people to talk too.

* * *

The start of their time together was nice, they walked through to town, looking at stalls and inside shops, Robin had been able to purchase some new books and tomes, while Cynthia had picked out some clothes for her own, Robin took that time to read the new Wyvern Wars book he had bought, at least he had something to do. Unbeknownst to the two, the three stooges were following behind them all the way, Owain and Gaius chatting about how the two made a perfect couple while Gerome was praying to Naga or any heavenly being that he was any other place than with the two bumbling buffoons he was with. It was getting close to the time when the camp would normally have dinner, so the tactician thought it was a good idea to visit a restaurant for their evening meal.

"Woah this place looks so cute." Cynthia nearly squealed taking in the sight before her.

The place they had decided on was said to have the best food within a twenty mile radius of the Valley, specialising in dishes that used bread and wheat and cheese.

"It really does look nice." Robin replied.

Walking towards the maître d', they requested a table for two, and the man was happy to oblige, giving them what they said were the best seats in the house. Apparently, he recognised Robin as the Shepherds tactician, and was pleased to serve a celebrity, leaving the two with menus.

"You're pretty famous aren't you Robin." Cynthia giggled.

"I guess so, though I would prefer that I wouldn't be that recognisable." Robin admitted, looking over the menu they had been given. Most of the stuff he had never heard of but they all looked pretty delicious from their names.

"All this stuff looks so yummy, I wonder if they have anything for couples to enjoy together." The princess spoke aloud.

The waiter came back over, bring a bottle of wine, saying that it was on the house for the efforts the Shepherds had performed the other day at Wyvern Valley.

"I've never drunk alcohol before, so this is going to be a new experience." Cynthia admitted, as the waiter poured her a glass.

"I'm not much for drinking, but in a situation like this I think it's worth it." Robin replied, as his glass was filled.

"Hey Robin, thanks for this…for everything you've done so far for us." The blunette thanked him, smiling sheepishly.

"Then a toast, to the future and good times ahead then." He suggested, raising his glass.

"To the future and good times ahead!" She cheered, meeting his cup with her own, before both took a sip. "Hmm, it's pretty sweet."

"Yeah, you're right, Gaius told me that there was a wine that was brewed in Valm that was supposed to be the sweetest wine in existence, but I didn't think it would be like this." Robin admitted, taking another sip.

Over in the corner, the stalking trio, were each ordering their own meals, and for some reason, Owain thought it was a smart idea to wear disguises. He himself was calling himself Odin for reasons known only to him, and wearing a yellow dark mage get up, Gaius had took to wearing similar outfit, but replacing his cape with a scarf and his usual shirt with a vest like top, for his name he just switched the letters around and called himself Asugi. Gerome thought the whole idea was stupid and just removed his mask, believing himself to be unrecognisable without it, it surprisingly worked, until he was surrounded on all sides by woman, and some men, with love hearts in their eyes, at which point he put his mask back on, and just flattened his hair, much to his dismay.

"Told you guys the wine was a good idea." Gaius smirked, his plan having told the waiter and maître d' who Robin was and recommended which wine to give them.

"Loathe as I am to admit it, it was smart, though I don't know how getting them drunk will help them." Gerome grumbled.

"Trust me, if that girls anything like her parents, that stuff ain't even affecting her. I swear Blue and Stumbles must have been born under a lucky star to have that good of an alcohol tolerance." The thief remarked, remembering back to the royal wedding of the two, or at least what he could remember, before he had been taken home in a drunken haze by his, at that time, fiancé.

"What are these wondrous foodstuffs?! Pizza?! Tortellini?! A CALZONE?! Oh, we gotta try that!" Owain was lost in his own little world again.

The waiter having come back they placed their orders, having been recommended the couples platter as a starter, and a sharing pizza for the main course. They hadn't decided on a desert yet, though Gaius had already planned ahead had one that he specially requested for them.

"Oh wow, this stuff is delicious. Hey Robin, try some of this stuff." Cynthia giggled, offering a mouthful.

Taking a bite, the burst of flavour in his mouth was unlike anything he had ever had before. "That is really good, but now you have to try this." Robin replied, offering a different part of the platter.

Looking on, having finally been drawn from his musings and dreams of food. Owain was on the verge of bursting with excitement. "Do you see that, an indirect kiss. Only twenty seven more steps and then we are onto a kiss on the cheek!" He cheered.

"He…really thought this through." Gaius sweatdropped in reply to his companion's eccentrics, while Gerome just facepalmed.

"You didn't have to listen to him name off every step last night." The wyvern rider grumbled.

Having finished their starter, the waiter delivered them their main course. A giant pizza that was split into four sections detailing the four different seasons.

"This is huge, thank Naga this a shared meal, am I right." The blunette admitted, her cheeks slightly pink, the early signs of inebriation.

"You're right, I don't think even Vaike would be able to pack this all away, and that man could eat a horse under the table." Robin joked, having seen the man asks for thirds and sometimes even a fourth serving at some meals.

The different toppings were all amazing with the different tastes that could be had from the mix of the vegetables and meats, initially they tried using normal cutlery, but it was too clunky and in the end the couple resorted to using their hands. Had Maribelle been their she would have whacked them both upside the head, demanded they pay instantly and then drag them away for proper lessons in etiquette.

"That was so good, I'm pretty much stuffed." Cynthia spoke.

"I'll ask for the bill, I don't think I can eat another bite." Robin replied. "Waiter, may we have the bill please."

"I'm sorry sir, but man by the name of Gaius specifically requested a desert for the two of you, out of his own pocket, we hope you enjoy it." The man replied with a heavy accent.

Surprised and slightly worried as to what his sweat toothed friend could have concocted, he resigned himself to his fate and gladly accepted the desert. When it arrived, he was pleasantly surprised. "It's…a type of drink?" He questioned aloud.

The desert in front of him was in a well crafted glass, its colours ranged from reds, yellows and browns, with whipped cream and a cherry on top. Inside where two straws crossing over each other, as if intended to be drunk that way.

"Whatever it, it looks really nice, I'm gonna need to thank Gaius tomorrow for this." Cynthia cheered before tucking into their shared desert.

Taking the other straw, Robin began sipping the drink himself. What surprised him, however, was not the taste of the concoction in front of him, which tasted really good by the way, but rather how close he and Cynthia were. He had never looked at her eyes before, but now with them being like they are, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful they looked, the childish innocence and her youthful outlook on life were clear to him, they say the eyes are the gateway to the soul, and looking at the girl in front of them, he can't help but agree with that statement.

"I would say this date has been a success." Gaius spoke, enjoying a bowl of sticky toffee pudding.

"They're just sitting there…what are they doing?" Gerome inquired, bored out of his mind, though he would admit that the meal, paid for by Gaius, out of his allowance from Maribelle (he wept tears of despair that night), was very good, and had asked for some of the leftovers so that he could give it too Minerva.

"Isn't it obvious fellow practitioner of justice, they are gazing into each others eyes, lost to the world and everything in it, all there is to them…is them." Owain spoke, somewhat sagely, surprising the wyvern rider.

"You, actually spoke like a normal human being for once." The blonde was now scared, was Grima raising at this very moment.

"I don't know about you guys but I would say it's time to take like a banana and split." The thief spoke up, signalling for the waiter to come with the bill. Once delivered, he gazed at the expenses he had to pay…and cried tears of sorrow as he no longer had any money left for sweets after this, all he could do was remind himself was that it was for a good cause.

* * *

The walk back to the camp was calm and peaceful, unlike the earlier hustle and bustle of the marketplace. As they were nearing camp, Cynthia felt a brainwave come to her and thought of a perfect way to end the evening.

"Robin, want to go on a late night pegasus ride?" She asked him, shyly.

"I would love that Cynthia." The tactician replied, he was starting to get used to flying a bit more, so why not try flying without all of the rushing of battle.

"Alright follow me." The princess took a hold of his hand and dragged him towards the stables, both of them trying their best to ignore and supress the rising heat in their faces.

Luckily, Rose hadn't quite fallen asleep quite yet, though was a bit annoyed about having been woken up from her light doze. Being guided out of her resting place, Cynthia skilfully attached her saddle, and helped Robin get on before herself.

"Ya know, I've never ridden in clothing different from my usual uniform you know, so this is a new experience even for me." The blunette admitted, her long legged dress forcing her to ride side saddle.

"I wouldn't think many people would have anyway." Robin commented, before Cynthia signalled for her mount to take off.

Getting up close to the night sky…it was breath taking, the stars were out, new constellations he had never seen before, and being so vivid and clear, it was like nothing he had ever seen before.

"Cynthia…this is amazing! It's absolutely breathtaking!" Robin exclaimed.

"Hey Robin, I had a really great time today." Cynthia spoke out of the blue, hoping the tactician wouldn't see her face.

"Yeah, I had a great time too." He replied, he really did too, everything about that day went well and they both enjoyed themselves.

"I was thinking…that maybe…if you wouldn't mind…" She rambled.

"Yes?" Robin waited on baited breath, he had never felt as anxious as he did at this point.

"Can we…" Cynthia locked up, she couldn't do it.

"Hey Cynthia?" The tactician asked.

"Y-yes?" She replied.

"Do you want…to start dating, for real?" Robin asked hopefully, starting to come to terms with himself, fear of Chrom be damned.

"As in…boyfriend and girlfriend?" Cynthia replied.

"Yeah." He said, quietly, before feeling a pair of arms wrap around him.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear those words." She whispered, tears of joy welling in her eyes.

"Cynthia…" The tactician spoke, before drawing closer to each other.

The feeling was indescribable, the feeling of their lips meeting together was wonderful for the both of them. For Robin, he recognised the flavours of the desert they had had before, but there was something else there that he couldn't describe. The same could be said for Cynthia, she could still taste the wine on his lips, he had finished off a glass before they had left, but the other one was something she couldn't relate too. Drawing back, they gazed back into each other's eyes, and they both wondered what was each other's minds, wanting to be the first to say, they both spoke up at the same time.

"I love you."

* * *

 **A/N: I am channelling maximum cheese right now! Totally not ripping off Aladdin right now, cue 'A Whole New World'! Now how bad was it, tell me honestly. I better with comedy it seems than romance so I want your guys opinion on this, how mushy was that. All the references in this chapter too, I thought I did a good job with this one, minus the ending.**

 **Now it's nearly 10 in the morning and I haven't slept yet been writing this for nearly 12 hours straight...this is what happens when I play Fire Emblem for real...Also Smite Master's LAN...Obey vs NRG today for just the Quarter Finals...and we already have worlds rematch...sorry I'm rambling. Leave reviews and I'll see you guys next time.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: We back, damn you writer's block, a curse upon thee with my hand of justice. Hang on, got carried away there. We got another chapter, not much too say except reviews:**

 **Red Qim: Yay I'm not gonna die today, oh just wait and see I have plans that I came up with.**

 **JamesBCrazy: A-Rank Obtained! Echoes is screwing with my brain with the supports, damn Act requirement. I can make marshmallows, may not be good marshmallows but I can.**

 **Draen: I was afraid of that, not a fan of rushed romance, but i put myself on a time limit and so that's what I get. Still thinking of the best name for Cynthia too.**

 **Guest: Oh Robin, prepare for the retaliation. There will always be references, so much if I can fit them in. I',m afraid there will be spoilers if I explained too much.**

 **Now Echoes...amazing...just amazing...Is it bad I've already completed it. And that was Yesterday, couldn't put it down man, I was addicted. Hehe, now onto the story.**

* * *

Chapter 6- Dance in the Desert

Morning soon came to Valm, and for Robin and Cynthia it seemed like it came too soon. After their late night pegasus ride, Robin had walked the princess to her tent before bidding her a goodnight and retiring to his own 'chambers', his dreams centred around the blunette and the willing joy she bring to him. While it may seem to people that they were rushing into a relationship, there had been some instances for the Shepherds where it seemed as though they had hit it off almost instantly, Vaike and Cherche as well as Lissa and Lon'qu being the obvious standouts. Even Henry and Olivia had been getting closer lately, ever since the pair had found the abandoned puppy in Sage's Hamlet the two had been sticking together like glue. But it was at the morning meal when Robin realised just what he had now had to deal with…the Shepherds.

"Bubbles, just the man I wanted to see!" Gaius shouted as soon as the tactician walked into the mess tent, walking towards him with a grin on his face that just screamed 'you're not getting away from this'.

Robin cringed, he knew what this was going to be about, he had done the exact same thing to not only Gaius, but to nearly every single male Shepherd that was currently married. He says nearly because he wasn't able to find Kellam and get the gossip out of the ninja knight. "Be gentle." The white haired man whined as the red haired man wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

"Not...A…Chance." The sweet toothed thief whispered, making sure to enunciate his words. Robin slumped, he could only hope Cynthia wasn't going to have the same experience he was going to have.

"Welcome leader of justice, the look on your face tells that of great joy." Owain cried out, knowing what was going on, thankfully he had ditched his dark mage getup.

"Really?" Gerome added raising a brow, not that anyone could tell. "He looks like he is fearing for his life." The blonde added, not fully understanding what hazing is.

"Teach wants to know how it went." Vaike popped up.

"Good, I guess." Robin answered, trying his best to avoid going into as much detail as possible, unknown to him was that some of his companion already knew most of what had happened.

"Nyahaha, you mean to say that what happened on top of the pegasus last night was only good?" Henry asked from behind everyone, the group jumping at his sudden appearance. Robin had been unfortunate enough to have been taking a sip from his drink at the time, which then was sent splaying all over the rest of his companions.

"Thanks for the impromptu shower Bubbles." Gaius groaned, wiping the spittle off of his face to the sound of the dark mages laughter.

"That was even better than what I imagined, nyahaha." Henry wheezed out, clutching at his sides, struggling to keep himself standing.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about." Robin sputtered, wiping his mouth clean, he totally wasn't trying to hide his face or anything.

"Now hold on their prince-to-be." The thief grinned, watching as the tactician squirmed under the name. "This sounds interesting."

"This is why you have to stick around when you're spying on someone's date, you never know what's going to happen next." Henry smiled, ousting the trio that stalked Robin and Cynthia the day before.

"You did what now?" Robin glared at the dark mage and thief. Henry just smiled as Gaius started growing a sheepish look.

"It wasn't just me ya know, these two idiots were too." Gaius replied, pointing towards the myrmidon and wyvern rider.

"Betrayal, I believed that our venture was to remain undisclosed." Owain shouted, pointing out his finger.

"I was just dragged along, I had no intention of spying." Gerome grumbled.

"At least Vaike didn't do anything." Robin sighed, not noticing that the blonde was sweating and had originally been planning on doing so, had Cherche not made Minerva restrain him from doing so.

"But anyway, Bubbles, back to the pegasus thing…what happened?" The red headed candy thief asked, waving off the glare that Robin was sending his way.

"We just went a saw the stars closer, nothing more." The white haired man answered.

"Are you sure that's all that happened?" Gaius inquired, leaning in closer.

"Positive." Robin replied keeping as stone faced as possible. The two just stared at each other, it was so intense that you could hear a pin drop.

"Oh, they totally kissed, there was nearly tongue." The other white haired man of the group spoke up, interrupting the intense showdown.

"HENRY!" Robin shouted lunging for the dark mage, but the damage had already been done.

"Step eighty six has already been completed, only thirteen left to go." Owain cheered, hugging the blonde next to him who just stared, surprised at how fast it seemed to happen,

"Aren't you going a bit too fast." Gerome spoke, directing his attention towards the tactician.

"Which is why we have decided to take it slow, we haven't had the time to really get to know each other yet." Robin replied, war was hell as they say. "And you can't say anything, your parents were engaged in less than two weeks."

Gerome opened his mouth to reply, but realised the truth in that statement. "I stand corrected." The masked man grumbled, his argument moot.

"What's it feel like Bubbles, knowing you have to deal with Blue in the future?" Gaius brought up.

"Honesty trying to forget about that for right now, and enjoy the last few weeks I have left to live." Robin moaned, sinking into his seat.

"Well nice knowing yah princey." The thief grinned.

"Now I understand why Chrom finds that so irritating." The tactician groaned, head impacting the table with a thud.

"I know what you mean." Owain agreed, everyone having forgotten that the brown haired man was the only, current, prince Ylisse.

Unlike the men who had settled into arguments and banter, the women of the Shepherds conducted their gossip circle in a much more civilised manner.

"Come on tell us, don't spare the details." Cherche urged onto the young pegasus rider.

Yes, civilised.

Unlike Robin, Cynthia was more than willing to explain the details of their date to her peers.

"It was amazing, we went all over town, so many sights to see and the shops. All the clothes were so cute and cool, I wasn't able to afford any of them though and I already had enough anyway but we got some books instead. Mom used to tell me about the Wyvern Wars series that she read with Robin, all the copies had been destroyed in the future so I ended up getting the whole collection that's been written till now." The princess explained, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, thinking that she may have gotten a bit carried away with her purchases.

"That's all well and good darling, it's wonderful to know that you were able to find something you wanted. Now you must tell me, was our tactician the proper gentleman he should have been?" Maribelle questioned, ready to walk towards the strategist and deliver swift punishment.

"Was he ever!" Cynthia exclaimed. "I mean, I know I'm a princess and all, but I don't really act like one. But for the first time in a long time, I felt like I actually was what I am." She continued, a genuine smile on her face.

Maribelle smiled back at the younger girl, she never had a doubt that Robin would treat her any less than of the position she was. As his teacher in the noble arts, she couldn't help but feel a welling of pride within herself.

"Then we had a meal at a restaurant in town. The food was so good and so many things we had never seen before, even this one thing we had called pizza. It was like a flat pie topped with cheese but with no filling, so good." Cynthia said, thinking back to the meal she had had the night before. "Even Gaius set us up a desert for us."

"Did he now?" Maribelle raised her brow at that, so that was where her husband had been the previous night, spying on the pair's personal time, seems as though a punishment was in order.

The princess nodded her head with fervour, ignorant to the fate she had bestowed upon the candy thief. "They called it a milkshake. It had chocolate and so many other flavours in it." Cynthia explained.

"One for each of you I presume?" Cherche asked.

"Nope, it was to share." The princess smiled back, causing the Olivia and Maribelle to spit out the cups of tea.

"Dear, we made need some context for this please?" The blonde noble coughed, wiping her face.

"Oh...OOHHHH. Nah, wasn't like you are imagining Maribelle, there a were these things called straws, they were really just chocolate wafers shaped like a tube and there was one for both me and Robin so there wasn't anything lewd about." Cynthia explained, realising what Maribelle had been implying and needed to clear it up.

"Thank goodness, a lady should never do anything too brash on her first date, not even a kiss is to be given." The troubadour exclaimed before returning to her tea.

"Urrrr, about that, hehe." The blunette chuckled sheepishly, a cheshire cat grin appearing on her face.

"Darling, don't tell me you actually...?" Maribelle tried to ask, but the shock to her noble senses were to great, to great I say.

"We may have gone up on my pegasus when we got back, and may have kissed." Cynthia spoke out, getting quieter the longer she spoke.

"But…you…hehhhh…" Maribelle attempted to reply, but the bit of information she received took her over the edge and the poor noble fainted on the spot, creating a noise loud enough to disrupt even the quarrelling men.

"The hell was that?" Gaius asked.

"Your wife." Cherche answered back, putting a bit of mild alarm into the thief.

"What happened, she alright?" He asked again, with more urgency.

"Nothing much, she fainted from having heard Cynthia's story." The wyvern rider explained, making sure not to mention what the story was about. "Just a bit of rest and she'll be up in no time."

As Gaius breathed a sigh of relief, he may seem lax by nature, but he truly did care for the noble. Robin took that opportunity to escape the harassment he was suffering from his peers.

"Right, I think that signifies us to get moving, there is a shrine to the north, it's close to Walhart's seat of power so there is an extreme risk. However, it also provides great information going forward, supply routes, head generals, so many things that could help us in the future. Be on your guard at all times, and be vigilante, I'll see you all when we go to depart." Robin delivered before leaving the tent to pack away his things.

"I love it when he's commanding everyone." Cynthia sighed whimsically, a smile on her face, oblivious to her surroundings.

"Girl's got it bad." Gaius whispered to the dark mage besides him. Henry replied with his trademark cackle.

* * *

 _In Ylisse_

Deserts were hot, 'nough said. Morgan had heard that in Hoshido, the Wind Tribe lived in a desert area but that place also had blistering winds that cooled down the tribesmen. Plegia too was a barren wasteland, but the people there had grown used to the area, mainly living off of trade goods and meats. This place however…

"I hate desert's." The young tactician cried out, arms flopping at her side. Even her father's cloak was insufficient for her.

"Even I must agree with you princess." Frederick replied, drenched in a layer of his own sweat, Morgan was seated behind him on his mount. His suit that he wore underneath his armour was really coming back to haunt him right now.

All those able had taken to riding with someone, if possible. Chrom was riding with Sumia in the skies along with Cordelia and Noire, the archer having struck of a small friendship with the knight. Married couples kept together, those unfortunate enough had to wade through the trudging sand, or kept in the carriages should they so desire, though that ran the risk of being stuck in the dunes.

"I heard mirages show up when you're dehydrated, images of the mind, we can't be fooled by them. Yet the same time the place we are searching for is a mirage, so kinda contradictory that." Morgan explained, then retorted herself, maybe the heat was getting to her.

"It is too hot for your ramblings princess." Frederick moaned. Morgan was too lost in her own thought to pay attention.

A swooping of wings, however, brought her back to reality as her grandparents appeared in front of her. Chrom dismounting from the pegasus with, seemingly, trained expertise.

"Bandits ahead, they seem to be coming the desert in search of the village, there are villages there with an oasis in the centre, it might be in our best interest to help them while driving the bandits out." The exalt reported. "The nearest village isn't far from here, a couple of minutes march and we'll be there."

"Aye aye, gramps." Morgan saluted, Frederick nodding back as Chrom started walking forward.

The first village was pretty simple, except for that it was in the middle of a desert, but at least the oasis was able to sustain their need for water. Walking inside, the place wasn't really bustling, just your average village really. They started towards one of the villagers, a mage with a very pointy hat who was talking to someone who could only be described as a little girl, but the gestures she was doing struck a large resemblance too Morgan, a very large resemblance.

"By the Gods." Morgan whispered to herself, surely, she was seeing a mirage, that her eyes were playing tricks on her. She tried everything from wiping her eyes to pinching herself, even taking a swig from her water flask, yet she couldn't deny the sight in front of her. Quickly dismounting from the mount, much to the cries of the great knight and sprinting past Chrom, she ran towards the girl she hadn't seen in a very long time.

"OOOOOOPPPPHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYY!" The young tactician cried lunging towards the scantily clad dark mage.

"What?!" The girl asked alarmed, before feeling what she could only describe as a cannonball straight in her gut, knocked her to the ground.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Morgan demanded. The other mage looked on in what at first seemed concern, but seemingly changed to a smile. Chrom having caught up simply looked on in confusion.

"Dearest cousin it is great to see you again." The yellow clad girl answered.

"Yeah great to see you too, but again, what in Naga's name are you doing here?" The blunette demanded again, gazing down at the olive haired girl.

"The stars guided me to this wondrous place, after you had disappeared, me and Soleil were worried sick, we thought you had spilled the name of that that must not be said, when a voice of heavenly wonder spoke to us, giving us the choice, join you or stay there. Not knowing of your safety weighed heavily on us and we graciously accepted the offer, not too long ago I found the gentleman I was speaking to, saying that my speech reminded him of an old friend and so the stars guided me here to this village in the desert in search of the staff hidden in the mirage." 'Ophy' explained, Morgan used to her tone of phrase understood it instantly. Chrom, however, just stood their confused, though one word the girl said spoke to him.

"Ummm, did she just say cousin?" The exalt asked.

"Damnitt!" Morgan cried out, now she was going to have to explain this too. "You dropped the ball Ophy!"

"If I may, you are Chrom am I correct." The forgotten mage spoke up.

"Yes I am, and you are?" Chrom replied.

"Stellar, my name is Laurent, child of Miriel and friend of Lucina. I came here having the knowledge of my mother's travels and arrived in search of the Goddess Staff, the item I am sure you are also in search of, when I came across Ophelia here. She was lost and I to it upon myself to help her, it wasn't until I asked of where she was from did I learn of her way with words. It reminded me of a friend who I haven't seen in a long time." Laurent explained.

"Hey what's going on here? We're all waiting outside." A peppy voice spoke up from behind them.

"Lissa, we won't be much longer, another of Lucina's friends has appeared, curiously enough one of Morgan's too." Chrom replied, Lissa walking towards the group.

"Hey I know you, Ophelia, right?" The cleric asked.

"Ahh Lady Lissa, a pleasure to see you again, how long has it been? For me it feels as though only a couple of weeks have gone by." Ophelia asked.

"That's probably because it has only been two weeks for you." Morgan whispered to herself, making sure no one would hear her.

"Boy, it's been over two years. Who would've thought that after that battle we would start down the path that we did." Lissa replied, thinking back to when we last met. "Did that bruise ever heal?"

"Er, well you see, about that." The dark mage gulped, looking towards Morgan as if she had the answer. Morgan just sighed and motioned as if to pull up her sleeve. A confused glance back meaning 'are you sure' was met by a sharp nod back, Morgan did not want to go through this again.

Doing as she was told, Ophelia rolled up her left sleeve, and all present looked on with wonder, minus the two who already knew.

"That's the…brand of the Exalt." Chrom spoke slowly and quietly.

"Wait?! Wait?! Wait?! Hold on a minute, you mean to tell me, this was what you meant before?!" Lissa exclaimed, was she really the only one bugging me out here.

"Peculiar indeed." Laurent commented, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Well?! AM I THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO IS SHOCKED?!" The blonde cleric shouted.

"Lissa calm down, need we remind you of time travelling children. I'm surprised you are even surprised." Chrom replied, coolly.

"But Chrom! She has the brand, that means she's related to you!" Lissa pointed out the obvious.

"Yes, and so is Morgan and Lucina. This is nothing new." The exalt answered, too many strange things had happened in his time.

"You're hopeless!" The cleric exclaimed.

"Morgan, who is Ophelia related too?" Chrom asked.

"Think Gramps, 'cousin'." Morgan groaned out. "Do I need to spell it out."

Chrom blinked, if Ophelia was Morgan's cousin, then that means.

"AHHHHHHH, NO WAY!" Lissa screamed, also having figured it out. "I'M TOO YOUNG TO BE A GRANDMA!"

"Heh, to think you met her two years ago." Morgan chuckled.

"This maiden agrees." Ophelia replied. "The fair finger of fate will guide us further ahead, the glorious Missiletain will lead us." The dark mage cried raising the tome above her.

"Lissa, stand up. You're causing a scene." Chrom rolled his eyes, his younger sister, despite being a grown woman, was rolling around on the floor, uncaring of the sand around her, crying her eyes out whining about being too young. "I'm getting too old for this."

"You're only twenty one gramps." Morgan smiled.

"Exactly." Chrom moaned.

* * *

The dance in the desert was truly as it was said, visiting different villages to only finally receive a rhyme. The bandits had been close to the mirage village, yet the Shepherds were able to find it themselves, and with it they were able to receive the reward that they had been searching for. All the time, Lissa had been whining the entire way, not even Lon'qu was able to calm her down, unaware of the knowledge that she knew.

Another meeting was to be held inside Chrom's tent, this time to discuss Ophelia's appearance.

"Must we do this again so soon after the last?" Frederick groaned, one was already bad enough.

"I'm afraid we must." Chrom replied, sitting down, the usual suspects had assembled. Sumia was sitting next to him, Lucina in the corner, at least this time she wasn't mumbling to herself, that belonged to Lissa, rather she was bawling her eyes out, Lon'qu standing over her, thought he was more angsty, having to deal with another woman in his life was, tragic for him.

"Yo Ophy, if you're here, is Soleil going to be too? And if she is, do you think that maybe…?" Morgan asked.

"I'm pretty sure the last of our triad will be with us soon, though I don't know about our quartet." Ophelia replied. "Also, why is your hair blue? It was grey before, was it not?" The dark mage replied.

"Your hair was grey, Morgan?" Sumia asked, looking at her own hair.

"Yeah, before, it was like yours, but now it's blue, I'm fine with this." Morgan answered.

"Ophelia, what was your hair colour before, that olive green is very reminiscent of someone." Lucina asked, it was very similar to another of her friend's hair.

"Red, a glorious red at that too." Ophelia replied.

' _Red and Green? Then that means?!"_ Lucina thought to herself, only two people in the Shepherds had that combined hair colour.

"It looked really good on her, trust me." Morgan grinned.

"Can we go back to normal now?" Chrom asked. Normal being not something Chrom had experienced in quite a long time.

"Sure gramps. So, what do you want to ask?" The tactician replied.

"Ophelia, so your grandparents are Lissa and Lon'qu, am I correct." Chrom stated.

"Yes, o' chosen one." Ophelia replied.

Lissa bawled even louder.

"Second…do you always speak like this?" The exalt asked, genuinely.

"Take this maiden seriously, there is nothing wrong with the way I speak." Ophelia glowered.

"I'll take that as a no." Chrom smiled, when she wasn't putting on the airy voice that she normally has, she would sound a lot like Lissa herself.

"You dropped character again Ophy." Morgan grinned, always enjoying when it happened.

"Oh shoot!" The green haired girl bemoaned, crossing her arms.

"Next up, could you wear something else? It's a bit…revealing." The blue haired man asked.

"I don't really know, this is all I really wear. Morgan only wears her cloak all the time." Ophelia replied.

Lissa finally seemed to calm down at that one, coming back to her senses.

"Oh no. No granddaughter of mine will wear something like that!" The cleric glowered, looking her up and down.

"Ummm, grandmother…you're scaring me." The dark mage cowered.

"You're coming with me and putting on something that actually covers you up." Lissa grinned, taking her arm.

"Somebody, anybody! HELP!" The drowning cries of Ophelia were ignored.

Everyone stared at the tent's exit as the spritely cleric dragged away the dark mage, kicking and screaming.

"Best. Reaction. Ever." Morgan grinned.

"When did my life get so weird." Lon'qu grumbled, moving to leave the tent as well.

"Well I would say this meeting is adjourned, everyone dismissed, except for you Morgan." Chrom said, still with a bit of a surprised look on his face.

As everyone left the tent, with varying degrees of confusion on their faces, even Frederick seemed exhausted from the day's event, a matter that is not to be taken lightly at all. Once all that had been present had left, except for Morgan and Chrom, the young tactician raised a brow of understanding.

"More story time then?" Morgan asked.

"If you could elaborate more, then yes. Also, Ophelia's other grandparents. They are Stahl and Cordelia aren't they." Chrom stated.

"Yup, you're getting better gramps, the green and red hair was what gave it away. I think Aunty Lucy figured it out too, did you see her face…priceless." Morgan chuckled.

"But what is this about your hair changing colour, seems weird to me." Chrom asked, the obvious elephant in the room.

"When Mom and the others went to Nohr and Hoshido, they had their hair colour changed to that of their mothers to help hide their appearance, they had their names changed too. In Ophelia's case, her mother's hair became red, so her hair was red, I don't know how to explain it, maybe to hide the genetic makeup or something, but when we came here or hair turned to what our parents would be over here." The young tactician explained.

"That is confusing and I will never ask that of you again." The exalt sighed, that was a bit too much for him.

"Anyway, back to where we were. Corrin ended up choosing to side with neither country, they couldn't bring themselves to hurt either family they knew, whether the adopted family that raised them in Nohr or the family they were related too in Hoshido. In the end, they were declared a traitor to both states and went on the run, only their servants and Azura following them." Morgan delivered.

"They went to the Bottomless Canyon, so named because anyone who fell in would never be seen again, this was because in actuality it was a gateway between the plane that Hoshido and Nohr existed on, and the plane Valla existed on." The blue haired girl continued. "Following Azura's advice, they descended into it. I don't know what happened down there but they were able to find Gunter and then decided to try and get the help of the Hoshidan's. But when they arrived they were met with hate, the tactician, Yukimura, who was pretty stupid if you ask me, tried to cast them away without even listening to their reasoning, you would think he would be smart enough to think that maybe his queen had plans for their child but nah. After one of the soldiers tried to blow himself up, Princess Sakura and the soldiers twin brother, Kaze, showed up and put a stop to it. Sakura decided to travel with Corrin, and that's how mom joined Corrin as well, along with a girl named Hana who mom was partnered as her retainer with. Another guy came too, name Subaki, he was a perfectionist though, but he really wasn't." Morgan finished.

"So, your mother joined Corrin's army. But what about Robin, he still hasn't appeared yet?" Chrom asked.

"There isn't much of a story after that for a bit, just Corrin going on a mass recruitment drive really. Dad, he had woken up in a place called Mokushu and had been discovered by a ninja in the employed of Prince Ryoma, Kagero. She was, at the time, relaying a message from the crown prince and had to travel through the province. Mokushu at the time was believed to be allied with Hoshido, but the daimyo, Kotaro, had been in talks with Nohr for years about taking over Hoshido. He was also a famous ninja killer, murdering most other honourable ninja with underhanded tactics, his ambition was the only thing that rivalled his skill, going as far as to have taken over Koga years prior. He had his men kidnap Kagero, and simultaneously, they kidnapped dad and they were placed in the same cell. When Corrin's army showed up, now with Prince Takumi in tow after being able to recruit him while he was in Izumo, at the dying words of the Archduke Izana. They were able to kill Kotaro and men and subjugate the wayward province, and with that came Kagero's and dad's freedom." Morgan explained.

"How did Cynthia react?" The exalt asked.

"Punched him them kissed him." The tactician replied, as if it were natural.

"If it was anything like Sumia's motivational slaps, then I feel sorry for the man." Chrom chuckled, being on the receiving end of one too many of them.

"That was also nine months before I was born." Morgan smiled, deciding to drop that little tidbit.

"Too much information Morgan." Chrom groaned, realising he now had to live with that knowledge.

"Hehehe, I think that's enough for now, the desert really tired me out, I'll tell you more tomorrow." Morgan chuckled, before letting loose a yawn.

"Goodnight Morgan." The exalt replied, as the young girl left the tent, he then remembered a promise he made to himself before Robin had left om his journey. "LON'QU!" He yelled, brandishing his sword and running out of the tent. One was certain they could here Morgan cackling as the Feroxi swordsman swore he had never moved so fast in his life.

* * *

 **A/N: RIP Lon'qu, he will be forever missed, he was fed to the great Gods so that one may have been given Vantage 3. Hehe, hope enjoyed this one, hopefully I'll be able to get over my writer's block I'm having for Noble Pursuits right, Echoes has given me a better spring in my step since I can abuse the connection that Valentia has to Valm. Now QOTD, I didn't ask one last time so I have a nice one for you now. Who is your favourite character in Echoes? Either from playing it or just knowing about, leave answers in the reviews and I'll see you guys next time.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: And we are back with another chapter, had some writer's block for a bit but I've fought through it. This chapter is now the longest one I've written at 8.5k without notes, not too bad at all if I do say so myself. Now we got a ton of reviews this time, so lets get onto them:**

 **Greyjedi449t: Thanks for the support, a laugh a day is a good way to live I say.**

 **Draen: Hello again sir, Faye is a good character, but I find her too one dimensional. Caeldori, Rhajat and Asugi will not appear in this fic, never was a fan of those three honestly.**

 **Darkchaser: Tobin was a cool character, he was my best archer across the game, just wait and see sir, just wait and see.**

 **LaKingVox: I thank you good sir.**

 **red qim: I was waiting for someone to pick up on that. I have hopefully fixed that first issue in this chapter, and the second will be answered in this chapter. I have also, hopefully, explained the third one as well so fingers crossed.**

 **RobbyOnions: Grey is cool, but I think I accidentally screwed him in my run by making him a cavalier. Haha, that's great to hear, and thanks for the support.**

 **Lord Destroyer: Clair is a very good character in Echoes, though the story was made a good twenty years ago, so they couldn't really mess with it except by adding in a couple of new characters hear and there that didn't really have any influence in the grand scheme of things.**

 **Guest: Another one for Grey...maybe I really did screw him up.**

 **Opposite Dragon: And another vote for Faye.**

 **My answer for last weeks question is Mae, I fell in love with her character almost instantly. Now that that's all done, lets get onto the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 7- A Song, A Dance and A Story

Lucina had had it. This was getting out of hand, not only was she now accompanied by her niece, but now she had her cousin's spawn to deal with as well. Just what she needed, another hyper active teenager with delusions of grandeur, and by the way she spoke she could tell that Owain had spoiled her rotten with tales of his 'heroic' deeds. This was why now, after she had left her father's tent, and her aunt had dragged away her granddaughter kicking and screaming, that she was holding a meeting between the future children they had found already.

Kjelle was once again polishing her armour, Morgan had made a temporary peace offering by giving her a new polishing substance, the young tactician had made a point that it would make the metal shine brighter in half the time. The knight had at first been sceptical, what with Morgan being a known prankster and troublemaker around camp, but relented and had accepted. She was now testing the liquid to see if the young princess's words had been truthful or not, and because it was her favourite pastime outside of fighting and training.

The archer of the group had gotten closer to Morgan within the last few days, having been a shoulder to cry on and always willing to lend an ear. With news of Ophelia spreading around the camp like wildfire, the cyan haired archer was more than willing to hear what their newest companion had to say.

Nah…the poor dragon child had been run ragged by the ball of energy that was Morgan. The brown haired girl had already had to suffer through Cynthia's badgering in the past and would no doubt be forced to live through it again once they meet. But to have her daughter constantly hounding her as if she were a piece of meat had given Nah an experience that she could only hope that she would never have to live through again…ahh hell its only going to get worse for her.

The newest member to their little group, Laurent had had the least the experience with Morgan, but from a first impression, and of those around him, he would say that she was a highly charismatic girl, no doubt inheriting the trait from her mother and grandfather, which is not to say that Robin wasn't the most charismatic of people but his impression on the young tactician was just that, he inspired Morgan to try her best and is no doubt why she is so friendly with all those around her. Ophelia, he would say was a pleasure to have around, while her aloof way of speaking could be jarring for some people, the young mage was intelligent in her own way and had a surprising nack for magic that he could not deny, he would even go so far as to say that it exceeded even his knowledge and skill.

Looking over the desk in front of her, lit by a faint candlelight, Lucina gazed at each of her friends faces, taking note of the various different expressions. "I'm sure you all know why I called you here?" The future witness asked to her friends.

"You mean about the brats that keep showing up." Kjelle answered abruptly.

"Kjelle." Noire reprimanded in her own way.

"Just being honest." The knight shrugged, returning to her task.

"As I'm sure you are aware, Ophelia is Owain's daughter, she even has the brand of the exalt on her arm, proving her heritage. Though what may be a problem, is who her mother is." Lucina explained.

"Yes, rather it's not a problem that she is her mother. But rather would it be best for them to meet." Laurent added.

"As long as they keep away from me I'm happy." Nah spoke up.

"Noted." Lucina sighed, feeling sorry for the manakete. "We all know she's not going to react well, if anything she would feel as though she failed as a mother."

"Especially since it would be like she's being compared to HER." Noire pointed out. "We should probably try to convince Ophelia not to reveal herself to them." She suggested.

"The problem with that, is that Aunt Lissa has taken to her like a house on fire. It would be too suspicious if she continued to dote on Ophelia with both Owain and Severa here." Lucina argued.

"Y-yeah, you're right." The archer nodded dejectedly.

"It was a fine suggestion Noire, no need to feel troubled." Laurent encouraged.

"Can't you just tell Chrom about the situation." Kjelle asked, not looking up from her armour…something didn't look right.

"I'm sure father has more important things to deal with right now. Though I suppose it would help." The blue haired girl agreed.

"Ya know Ophy doesn't plan on revealing herself. She's already told me she'll just present herself as a new dark mage." A voice that wasn't heard before spoke.

Everyone present turned their attention to the newcomer, low and behold Morgan was standing at the tent's entrance leaning against the pole that was keeping it aloft. "'All we gotta worry about is in case more of my friends may have ended up in Valm. It won't be a problem so much that it would mean that some of them might get a bit confused." The tactician pointed out.

"Who do you think would come here though?" Lucina asked.

"Well Soleil for one, she and Ophelia are pretty much tied at the hip, I think this is the longest I've seen them apart after they made up." Morgan delivered.

"Who is this, Soleil?" Laurent asked, confusion evident in his voice.

"Soleil would be the daughter of Inigo." She answered. Silence loomed, only for a burst of laughter to overtake all present, minus Morgan.

"Nice joke Morgan, but seriously who is she." Kjelle wheezed out between fits.

"I'm not joking.," Morgan deadpanned.

"I think my faith in humanity has just died." Nah whispered. Who in their right mind would marry, let alone have a child with that flirt?!

"She also has a twin brother named Shigure, he's got a good voice, so don't be surprised to hear him singing. Soleil tries, but she's tone death…and has two left feet. Shigure attracts forest critters, all Soleil brings is the crows." The tactician chuckled.

"The crow's part makes sense. But unable to dance just doesn't seem right to me." Noire replied.

"She gets lessons from her dad in that, as well as singing lessons from her mother." Morgan mentioned. "She's good at flirting if that helps."

"That…makes no sense at all." Kjelle stated, bluntly. "Inigo is the worst flirt I've ever seen, persistent yes. But good! Hell no!"

"Well she got Ophy tied around her finger so take of that what you will." The young tactician replied, receiving a few odd looks.

"I should be surprised, but for some reason I'm not." Lucina wondered. "With Inigo, it's hard to tell if that is a natural thing." She added, receiving nods all around.

"You got a problem with that?" Morgan glared at all present.

"Nope." "Nada." "Certainly not." "Nah." "I think it's cute." Were the answers she received. Though Noire's had her getting a few glances.

"For others that could be here. We had a friend called Nina, if we want to find her, just look for where the men are, she'll be somewhere nearby, probably with a nosebleed." Morgan chuckled. "Downright perv that one, and my personal partner in crime."

"Now I'm scared." Nah whispered to herself.

"Just tell the men to search everywhere when they want to bathe, and they probably still won't find her. I doubt Siegbert and Forrest would arrive, they are the princes of their kingdom after all. Ignatius and Percy would be spending time with their parents, and Velouria has the potential too as well. At best expect possibly three or four more." The tactician explained.

"Thank you, Morgan, that information is most helpful, and thank you again for explaining to us about Ophelia. But I have to ask, how did you know where we were?" Lucina asked her niece.

"Easy to tell when yours is the only light on. It's getting late and we're marching tomorrow, everyone else is asleep." Morgan finished before turning away. No one noticing the smirk on her face.

"She's right, I thank all of you for coming and resolving this but it's time we all went to-" As Lucina was thanking and dismissing everyone. Kjelle had finally noticed what was wrong with her armour, rather than the shining silver and purple it was known for, the metal had instead turned to a dark blue, how she hadn't seen it sooner was beyond her. Morgan would later say it was tunnel vision.

"THAT RUNT! JUST WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON THAT LITTLE SHIT!" The knight roared, knocking over the table. Unfortunately, this also caused the still lit candles to fall to the floor, and landing right next to the tarp.

"Kjelle!" Noire shouted, in a surprising show of confidence that wasn't brought on by her split personality.

"Have you seen what she has done to my amour?! I knew I shouldn't have accepted that witch's peace offering!" Kjelle continued to rant and rave, before the smell of smoke entered their noses.

"Everybody run!" Lucina called, as everyone rushed out of the princess's tent, which was now washed in flames.

Several minutes later, with the fire put out, thankfully before it had spread, but the damage had been done. Every Shepherd had been awoken by the commotion and had worked together to extinguish the flames, luckily the only casualty was Lucina's tent.

"Next time be careful with the candles, they may not seem that dangerous, but tonight I'm sure you've all seen what can happen with them if you're not cautious enough." Chrom reprimanded the group of children.

"Yes sir." They all replied, with varying degrees of sincerity.

"Good, Lucina from now on you will be bunking with Kjelle, I hope this doesn't cause any problems between the two of you." The exalt informed before returning to his own tent to rest.

As all the Shepherds departed back to their own comfort, the future children let out a sigh of relief. No one had been hurt from the carelessness.

"That could have been a lot worse." Kjelle breathed out, before receiving glares from her friends. "What?"

"This was your fault, you knocked the candles over when you flipped the table." Nah pointed out.

"As well as waking everyone up from their slumber and burned down Lucina's tent." Laurent added.

"It's that runt's fault, she defiled my armour…AGAIN!" The knight cried, she had dragged the hunk of metal with her as she escaped the blaze.

"Not tonight everyone, we all need our rest. And I need to be introduced to my new sleeping arrangements." Lucina spoke up, silencing everyone.

Agreeing with their leader, the group, minus Kjelle, left and conjoined to their respective dwellings. Laurent had been placed with Frederick for the time being as the mage had no companions to dwell with.

"Look Lucina I'm sorry, but Morgan..." Kjelle started, but sighed halfway through. "She just really knows how to grind my gears."

"I understand Kjelle, but you have to realise these are harmless pranks. They do nothing to you in the long run and she herself is just having fun." Lucina replied. "As soon as you come to realise that, then I'm sure you'll warm up to her." The princess finished before walking away, only to remember that she needed Kjelle's help to find her new sleeping arrangements. "I can't really storm off if I don't know where I'm going. Could you?" Lucina asked, with a slight edge of embarrassment to her voice.

"Sure." Kjelle replied, slightly confused. As she guided her friend back to her tent, she couldn't help but think over the princess's words. _'I'll think about this some more tomorrow.'_ She relented as she let out a yawn, sleep was a good idea right about now.

* * *

The Mila Shrine was a place that had been built during the reign of the Saint King Alm and his wife Queen Celica after the goddess that had gifted the former state of Zofia life along with her brother Duma to the neighbouring kingdom of Regalia. While Valm went by the then name of Valentia, the Shrine had been built in the area that was once Regalia, it was somewhat suspected that the Conqueror's capital was once the same as the war torn state of old.

"In the end, Alm had been the son of the Regalian king, Rudolf, while Celica was the princess of Zofia who had been forced to flee for her life from a young age. Together, using the Falchion, they had been able to stop the evil Jedah's plans and free Duma from his madness." Robin told as Cynthia listened with rapt attention, this being the first time she had heard the story of Ylisse's neighbouring continent's.

"Wow, that's amazing. But how did the Falchion get there?" The bubbly princess asked.

"From what I understand, there were multiple Falchions in existence scattered, all created from Naga's teeth, across the planet all created with the same goal in mind, to stop a dragon that has fallen into madness. Currently only two are known to existence, and both are in the possession of members of the Ylissean royal family, aka your sister and father, though really it's just two copies of the same sword." The tactician explained.

Robin and Cynthia were currently flying on Rose the pegasus. *snort* Don't you snort at me. After the hullabaloo that had been that yesterday morning, the group of the Shepherds that were in Valm had departed in a quick march towards the Shrine in the north that Maribelle had requested they visit, being a fan of history like himself, he could understand why she would want to go there.

They were getting close to their destination, which meant that they were getting close to the capital, so Robin had advised Cynthia to fly low to avoid being detected by the Valmese or Valentian's…whatever. Maribelle had decided to rush ahead, an unwilling Gaius being dragged along for the ride. The noble had been unable to calm her excitement, and in quite the unladylike fashion had gallivanted on. Which was why Robin was now wondering why she was galloping back to them when the shrine in was in their sight.

"Robin, darling!" The blonde troubadour cried, Gaius on the back looked as though he was about throw up.

' _Serves him right for eating candy half the time.'_ Robin thought to himself, taking it as a small form of revenge against the thief, before deciding to deal with more pressing matters. "Maribelle, what's wrong?" He asked in concern.

"Bandits, invading the shrine, we have to hurry." Maribelle answered. "Most of the inhabitants are cowering inside the shrine with no protection, they're about to be surrounded." She added.

"Okay." The tactician replied, before turning his attention towards the rest of the Shepherds." Everyone pair up, the Mila Shrine is under attack, protect any civilians you see!" He cried as he signalled for Cynthia to surge forward.

The distance they needed to travel wasn't very far, they were able to slip through a crack in the bandits formation to get into the shrine. Inside were villagers, all huddling together being guarded by a protector, armed with a small spear and, typically, wearing a bronze pot as armour.

' _Again with the pot's. Does it bring some secret strength out of the wielder? I should bring it to Miriel to investigate.'_ Robin thought to himself. In the centre of the shrine was the elder, beside him was an orange haired man wearing black and purple priestly robes, he had a large scar over his left eye, while being hunched over. One could say he looked like a common thug, as he moved away to go check on a possibly injured villager. Watching as the priest walked away, Robin dismounted from Cynthia's pegasus, as he walked towards the elder as the princess followed after the priest instead.

"What's seems to be the problem?" Robin asked.

"The man attacking us, he was once a young boy here following the teachings of Mila and Naga. But at some point, he left to go on spiritual journey. No one here has seen hair or tail of him for years, but now he has returned with an army of bandits sprouting nonsense about there being no gods or divine beings in the world." The elder explained. "Please sir, you must help us, only one of us here can fight."

Just as Robin is about to reply, the whinny of a horse drew both his and the elder's attention, at first Robin thought it was either Rose, or Maribelle's horse. However, instead it was an entirely different mount and rider, but what surprised Robin was that the rider was a man. He had long blue hair that covered his right eye, in his hand he carried a strange lance, it resembled a spear that came from Chon'sin, yet the it seemed more refined and polished. He wore light blue and white armour with gold accents, for some reason, there were a couple of animals surrounding his pegasus, before running away at the sight of other humans.1

"Ahh, Shigure, please tell me that everything is alright out there?" The elder asked the new arrival.

"I'm afraid it as bad as we feared, they had encircled us and are encroaching on our position, I don't know how long we'll be able to hold out." The pegasus rider explained. Before seemingly noticing the other person present. "I'm sorry I don't believe we've met, what is your na-?" He begun, but when he caught sight of the man in front of him he stopped himself. The blue haired man stood with mouth agape as he stared at the tactician.

"Is there something on my face?" Robin asked, unsure of the man's reaction.

"N-no, I'm sorry. You just look familiar to another person I knew once; may I ask your name?" Shigure asked once more.

"My name is Robin, tactician for the Shepherds. We'll be happy to provide any aid we can, though I'm surprised, I've never seen a male pegasus knight before." The tactician replied, not noticing the look he received.

"You will? I thank you sir. We have a healer with us by the name of Brady, he may appear thuggish but he wears his heart on his sleeve that boy does." The elder informed.

"Shepherds, I want you to guard every opening, and protect the villagers. I don't want any bandit to enter this Shrine, utilise hit and run tactics if you think its safe enough and be wary of snipers." The white haired man announced, as he watched the Shepherds all gather together. "We could use your help Shigure, would you mind?" Robin asked.

"I would be my pleasure, where would you have me?" The blue haired man inquired.

"Other than a lancer, what other skills do you have? It would help me place you among the group." The tactician asked.

"I can sing." He replied. "I can't inspire people as well as my mother, but it calms people."

"Alright, I want you near Olivia and Henry. Olivia is the pink haired dancer, one of your jobs is to keep her safe and she'll help you, Henry…just try to avoid being creeped out." Robin sighed, as he sent the boy on his way.

"I shall do my best." Shigure said as he mounted his pegasus.

"This is gonna be a long day." The tactician whispered to himself. Turning around, he then came face to face with Cynthia, barely resisting the urge to squeal.

"Robin look who I found!" The blue haired princess exclaimed, holding onto the red haired priest.

"Dang it Cynthia, there's no need to drag me who knows where." The man growled, but didn't struggle against his captor.

"You're Brady, correct?" Robin asked.

"That's my name, boss. Guessing the old geezer told yah?" Brady asked sticking something in his mouth.

"He's another one of us who came from the future, he's a good a healer as any." Cynthia cheered.

"It's a pleasure Brady, we'll continue this after we deal with these bandits though." Robin replied.

"You got it boss." The priest saluted, before making his way to the centre of the shrine, awaiting the need to heal anyone.

"Shall we milady." The tactician bowed, presenting his hand.

"Hehe, of course." Cynthia chuckled, taking a hold of it and guiding the pair towards Rose the pegasus.

* * *

The battle was short. The Shepherds were able to hold the defensive front well, but there were a few close calls, despite being bandits and mercenaries, the enemy group consisted of quite a few elite soldiers. The villagers thanked the Shepherds endlessly, even gifting them rewards of what little they had.

"I'm glad that's over." Cynthia said as she dismounted, they were about to set up camp outside of the shrine.

"Everyone did their best today, it's all we can ask for." Robin replied, joining her. "Though I will admit, I was expecting Maribelle's child to be a bit more…uptight." He added.

The orange haired priest had approached the blonde noble after the battle and had tried to introduce himself, but Maribelle had consistently batted him away ranging from calling him a thief to a mental patient. It wasn't until after he had gone through a lot of explanation had she finally accepted him, even going so far as to call him salvageable.

"Brady is like, the most calm person I know. He doesn't really get angry at people either." Cynthia smiled.

"I'm still surprised though." Robin chuckled. "Though it is nice that my expectations have been broken, once again."

"Once again?" The princess asked.

"Well Owain is nothing like his mother for the most part. Gerome is serious all the time almost nothing like his father at all, or even his mother for that part, and now Brady is nothing how I would expect him to act." The tactician explained.

"And what about me?" Cynthia fluttered her eyes.

"Where to begin, you are probably the most like your parents. From your mother's clumsiness, to you father's strong headedness." Robin began, before feeling a sharp pain in his shin.

"Those are all bad qualities." The blue haired girl glared.

"Yet those are what make you you. The clumsiness just makes you more adorable, and the strong headedness is part of your charm, but you also have Sumia's passion and Chrom's will, extremely strong traits." The white haired man added.

"Aww, you're going to make me blush." Cynthia replied, before giving him a peck on the cheek.

"I'm still getting used to that." Robin chuckled.

"Holy smokes!" A voice to the side of them exclaimed. Turning towards the voice, the couple watched as Brady was pointing at the two in complete surprise. "When the hell did this happen?!" The priest questioned.

"About two days ago." Cynthia answered, rubbing the back of her head.

"What can I say other than congratulations, just what's Lucina gonna say though?" Brady wondered aloud, before an ear wrenching voice made them all cringe.

"BRADY! We are still going over your language education!" A very angry Maribelle shrieked as she came marching towards the poor priest.

"But Ma." Brady whined.

"Don't Ma me, and no but's. The proper response should have been 'Yes mother?' Now do you see why we need these lessons." She exclaimed, before pinching a hold of his ear, and leading him away.

"Ah, that hurts. Maaaaaaaaaaaa!" Brady cried as he was dragged away, no doubt going to suffer more than an earful, through his already injured ear.

"Well…that was unexpected." Robin blinked, having watched the exchange.

"You're telling me." Cynthia nodded.

"Ah, that reminds me. Cynthia was there ever a man named Shigure among your group?" Robin asked, remembering about the male pegasus rider from earlier.

"Shigure? Nope, can't say there was anyone named that." The princess replied.

"Strange." The tactician whispered, before the sounds of beating wings caught his ear.

Looking up, Robin saw the obvious sights of a pegasus heading towards them, riding the winged creature was the light blue haired man he had spoken to before.

"Speak of the man and hear he comes. I wonder what he wants?" Robin spoke to himself.

"Well I leave you to that, I'm getting a bit hungry." Cynthia said, before giving him another kiss.

"Alright I'll talk to you later, Cynthia." The tactician replied as she walked towards the mess tent.

"Sir Robin, may I have a word?" Shigure asked, having made his way towards him.

"You may Shigure, but what are you doing here, I thought you were with the Shrine?" Robin asked.

"I was only there because that was where I ended up, I'm currently searching for my sister you see, she goes by the name of Soleil and I do not know where she has gone." The pegasus rider explained.

"That seems strangely convenient, you see we are also searching for some people as well, you are welcome to join us in case we find your sister." Robin replied, presenting the formal invitation.

"I am most grateful, I feel like singing." Shigure thanked, before starting up a song. " _You are the Ocean's grey waves~"_ He sang.

Robin felt a strange calming effect from the song, he had never heard the tune or lyrics before yet they seemed to resonate with him. As he continued to listen, he caught sight of Henry and Olivia engaging in an embrace, as he squinted slightly he caught sight of a newly adorned ring on the dancer's hand. He gave a small smile, as he reminded himself to congratulate the couple later. It seemed that everyone was getting together nowadays.

" _The path is, yours to climb~"_

* * *

Morgan always loved flying, to her there was no greater feeling, except maybe the praise of her parents that is. As they were going to their next destination, she was riding with her grandmother in the skies, she was slightly thankful that she had a break from being under the watchful gaze of Frederick the Wary. Instead it was Kjelle that was suffering his presence after the events of the previous night.

"There really is nothing greater than soaring through the sky." The young tactician spoke wistfully.

"I agree with you there, Morgan." Sumia replied.

Below them Ophelia was walking alongside Lissa and at double arms length away from Lon'qu, that myrmidon's gynophobia taking full effect with the young dark mage. Like Lissa had promised, Ophelia had been forced into new clothing, but the dark mage had quickly dispatched of them for her usual ware, much to the cleric's dismay.

"Do you know where we are going grandma?" Morgan asked.

"It's a little village on the coast of Ylisse, it's a pleasant place from what I've been told." Sumia replied, in full spring with being called grandmother.

"Knowing our luck something's gonna happen." The young tactician spoke quietly.

"Don't jinx us." The pegasus rider smiled.

As they neared the village, the sounds of an argument were in full swing. Inside the village a mercenary wearing full plate armour was shouting out towards a man riding on an armour horse. The two were arguing over territory and who owned the land they would fight jobs for.

Sumia and Morgan landed next to Chrom, as he was mulling over what to do, he couldn't decide what to do about the quarrelling mercenary groups, but what drew his attention, other than his wife and granddaughter landing beside him, was that the tanguel of the group was sniffing the air with fervour.

"It's strange, this smell. It is one of tanguel." Panne spoke aloud, trying to determine the smells position.

Kellam was standing beside her, but no one else could see him as he tried to talk with her. To onlookers it seemed as though the shapeshifter was having a one sided conversation with herself.

"Morgan, what would you do in this situation? Mercenary groups are known to fight over territory quite frequently, we are going to have to deal with one of them before it escalates out of control." Chrom asked.

"If it were up to me, I would try to take out both of them, who knows when another group could come by and try to claim terriroty, but we don't have the man power for that, and I don't think I would be able to manoeuvre everyone well enough. Right now, I would say we wait until Panne finishes what she's doing, whatever that is, and go from there." The young tactician answered.

Chrom nodded in reply, and so they waited, but a small snickering reached Morgan's ear, looking up, she saw a sight she never would've thought she saw at that time. A boot and stocking clad leg hanging out of the tree. Slipping away for a little bit, she started climbing the tree, as she got higher, she could hear faint mumbling which only got louder.

"And when they finish their arguing, the two mercenary's would realise the error of their ways and make up over a drinks and food, and while there they would catch each other's gaze and realise that-". The voice described, as rapid scribbling was heard.

"They loved each other deeply and that nothing would ever come between them, as they made their way towards each other ready to embrace each other in a passionate kiss." Morgan finished, smirking, resting against a tree branch. In front of her, with quill to booklet, a small ink well resting in front of her, sat a purple haired girl, her left leg hanging off of the tree branch the other laying on top. Resting behind her was bow and quiver full of arrows. The girl had a red cape over her shoulders and wore a dark grey mini dress, she had a hook for keys and lockpicks hanging beside her and wore thick black stockings, finishing her clothing was brown boots.

"Ooh that's good. Thanks." The voice replied grateful, before realising that they had been had. "Just what do you think you're doing spying on me?!" They growled turning around, only to be met with the grinning smile of someone they had been looking for.

"Good to see you too Nina." The young tactician greeted.

"Well looky what we have here. It's great to see you Morgan." The purple haired archer smiled, giving her long time friend a hug.

"Seriously though what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be learning etiquette and stuff in Nohr?" Morgan asked.

"I'm a thief, that stuff ain't for me. Besides I'm as much princess material as you are, leave that stuff for Ignatius, Siegbert and Forrest." Nina answered, not realising how close she was to that statement. "As for how I go here, this weird voice said that they could bring me here to see you again, I'm not missing out on more adventures with my best friend." The outlaw chuckled.

"That was probably Naga you heard then. She gave me the choice to see my parents more, but I haven't even seen them yet. Only reason I even knew who I was looking for here was cos Naga gave me a view of these guys being all heroic, she even included sound." Morgan replied. "Anyway, I gotta get back, we got a battle coming up."

"I'm coming with you, I'm guessing there's gotta be lots of hunks down there." Nina said, resolutely.

"You go girlfriend. Alright, I just gotta introduce you to gramps and aunty first." The young tactician replied, as she jumped out of the tree.

"Wait, you're grandfather's here?! Hey wait?!" Nina cried, as she followed after her energetic friend.

Walking towards the exalt, with the outlaw in tow, Chrom appeared to be looking around frantically in search of something.

"Hey gramps!" Morgan shouted.

"Morgan?!" Chrom replied, turning around. "Just where did you think you were doing, the groups are just about to engage each other, the village is about to become a battleground." He exclaimed frantically.

"Wait this guy's your grandfather, he barely looks older than us?!" Nina asked loudly.

"Who's this?" Chrom also sked.

"One at a time. Nina, yes, trust me it's confusing. Grandpa, this is Nina, she's my best friend from Nohr, and my personal partner in crime." Morgan answered both of them.

"Well then, it's good to meet you Nina." Chrom gathered himself.

"Likewise." The outlaw replied, before leaning into Morgan. "I was right, there are hunks here." She whispered, earning a chuckle from Morgan.

"What?" Chrom asked, oblivious.

"Nothing gramps. Anyway, has Panne located that smell yet?" Morgan inquired.

"Yes, she says its coming from inside the village. So, it seems we'll be allying ourselves with the Stonewall Knight's for this battle, they even said they would pay us handsomely for our endeavours. Though it's not like we need it for our coffers." The exalt explained.

"Why not just give it to the people, I'm sure they would do more with it." Nina suggested.

"Not a bad idea at all, we'll probably do that." Chrom agreed.

"You're a modern day Robina Cowl aren't yah?" Morgan grinned to her friend.

"You know it." The outlaw smiled back.

"Princess, I've finally found you." A deep voice sounded from behind them.

"Ah Frederick, where have you been?" Chrom asked towards the encroaching great knight.

"I have been searching for milady, Kjelle has been wanting to speak to her, but with the battle about to begin it will have to wait to later." Frederick explained.

"Must be a peace offering, tell her I'll speak to her afterwards." Morgan replied.

"Of course, princess." The brown haired knight bowed before walking away, leaving the group and a stunned Nina.

"Welp, let's get everyone into position and find that rabbit!" Morgan cheered.

"Morgan?" Nina asked slowly. "Did that guy just say what I thought he said?"

"Yes." The tactician answered, just a slowly.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" The outlaw cried. "We could have been even closer than before!"

"I didn't find out till recently myself, I was gone as soon as I learnt." Morgan answered back.

"Girls!" Chrom shouted. "We need to be quick here."

"Aye aye sir." Both young woman saluted at the same time.

"Oh gods…it's like there are two of them now." Chrom wept.

As the pair of troublemakers advanced onto the battlefield, the rival mercenary group, known as the Riders of Dawn, had started to advance forward. A couple of bow knights had tried to lob some arrows into the village, but Morgan had told Nina to retaliate with a few of her own, trusting in her friend's accuracy, which rivalled that of Noire's and Virion's.

Inside the village were some knights and generals standing guard, they were heavily armoured and stood ready to endure the onslaught. As they stood aside for the girls, they noticed a person cowering in the corner, he had dark brown tufts of hair all over and had black armour. He seemed to be whimpering to himself, but had two long extensions protruding from his head.

"Bunny!" Morgan cried, charging towards the cowering man.

"W-what?" He asked before being 'attacked' by a ball of brown and dark purple. "AHHHH help, help!"

"These ears are so cute!" The tactician cheered pulling on them.

"Morgan! MORGAN! Down girl, down!" Nina shouted, trying to pry her friend from the poor man.

"No, they're so fluffy." Morgan argued, pulling them harder. The poor tanguel letting out a cry of pain.

"Yarne?!" A voice shouted to the side of them.

Nina turned behind her, since Morgan was still distracted, coming towards them was a blue haired girl, dressed in all blue with a sword in hand, she didn't know who she was, but she would not want to stand in her way.

"L-Lucina?" Yarne asked. "H-h-help me…I'm being attacked."

"Morgan, let him go!" Lucina shouted.

"You can't make me!" Morgan argued.

"You, I don't know who you are, but help me get my niece off of my friend." The future witness said.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" Nina replied sarcastically.

"N-niece?!" Yarne exclaimed.

After the arduous task of prying Morgan from the cowering tanguel, the battle soon ended with the Shepherds and the Stonewall Knights claiming victory over the rival mercenary group. As promised the Shepherds had been gifted some gold and items by the villagers who supported them and the mercenary's. Taking Nina's, advice Chrom gave the gold to the villagers, but since the items had been gifted by the villagers themselves, it seemed rude to give them back.

"I still can't believe you did that." Nina sighed. She and Morgan were walking around the camp, just loitering. Morgan was wasting time, before having to talk with Kjelle.

"You know me, I did the same thing to Velouria and Selkie when we first met them." Morgan replied.

"Yeah and I had to pry them off of you then. Velouria could have battered you off, and Selkie thought you were playing with her. But that guy, he was a bloody coward." The outlaw exclaimed.

"Yeah but you would be too if you were the last living member of your kind." The tactician argued.

"I guess you're right." Nina sighed, not bothering to try and argue with her friend.

"Still, it's great you're here. If it was just Ophy and Soleil, I don't think I could handle their lovey doveyness." Morgan informed.

"What would you do without me?" The yaoi loving girl asked.

"I wouldn't have anyone to share my love of man love with!" The tactician replied, embracing her friend.

"Right you are." Nina smiled, returning the embrace.

"Ahh, the star crossed lovers have returned together once again." A voice to the side said, alerting the pair that they were being watched as they scrambled to separate themselves.

"Ophy! What are you talking about?!" Morgan sputtered to her cousin's suggestion.

"The two of you are always together, it is written in the stars that you will be together." The star gazer spoke airily.

"You leave your divination to yourself, we'll deal with real life." Nina argued, trying to hide the growing heat on her cheeks. "Anyway, you need to go and have that talk with that Kjelle girl, I'm gonna go do some stuff." The outlaw added, before walking away.

"Get me some material to work with." Morgan shouted after friend, receiving a thumbs up from the purple haired archer.

"Finally going to make up with the armour obsessed knight?" Ophelia asked.

"Yeah, it's about time, I think she's suffered enough." The tactician replied, before walking towards the purple haired knights tent, which she now shared with her aunt.

While on the way there, Morgan couldn't help but think over what Ophelia had said, sure she and Nina were pretty much tied at the hip, the only thing she had regretted about taking this opportunity was leaving the outlaw behind. After she had left her deeprealm, she had met up with the purple haired thief and joined her on her 'steal from the rich, give to the poor' escapade. If it hadn't been for Niles and her father they would've gotten away, but the children could not outdo their parents on that occasion. It hadn't helped that the two men had become good friends over time, and had learned each other, seemingly, in and out.

"Still though, Ophy does have a small point, but I doubt it." Morgan spoke to herself, as she stopped outside of the now shared tent. "Hey Kjelle, you in there?" The young blue haired girl asked.

"Yes, Morgan, I'm in." the purple haired knight replied, slightly muffled.

Entering, Morgan could see that the knight was once again polishing her armour. Strangely, she had a bronze pot beside her as well which confused the young girl greatly.

"What's with the pot?" Morgan asked.

"It's my father's, he asked me to polish it since I'm always working on my armour, I just have to be careful with the dents, he doesn't want them changed." Kjelle replied.

"Need any help?" The tactician offered.

"If you wouldn't mind." The knight answered.

Nodding, Morgan took a rag and started to get to work on the old pot, it was really dented, obvious form of well use from Donnel. When the young tactician had first lay her eyes on the villager turned soldier, she was curious as to why he still wore the piece of metal. Apparently it was something he had always worn and it to him it showed his growth over the years, unwilling to part with the pot.

"In the future, my father used to wear it all the time. When I learned of my parent's death, all I received was my mother's ring, and my father's pot. Sadly, it was almost completely destroyed, and couldn't do much of anything." Kjelle explained.

"Where is it now?" Morgan asked.

"I'm polishing it." Kjelle answered, continuing her task with her amour. "When I first began my training, I always did it with my mother and father. Without them, it felt wrong to do it. In the end, I had the pot melted down and forged with other things into this armour what you see." The knight continued.

"I'm sorry, I-I didn't know." Morgan replied sympathetically. "I thought you were just over attached to it, I didn't know it had that much value to it."

"I understand that now." The knight answered back. "And, I'm sorry for insulting your mother. Cynthia was always so happy that I could never understand where she got it from, and I hated it. I thought that it was because she didn't understand what was happening around us, all her talk of heroes just got on my last nerve, I guess I just transferred that anger onto you."

"I'm sorry too. So, what do you say we call a truce? I promise to never touch your armour again." Morgan offered.

"I'd like that." Kjelle smiled. "Noire's right, you are pretty nice when we get to know you, runt."

"I'm just that kind of girl. Now I gotta meet with gramps again, and get some juicy info from my friend." The young tactician excused herself, leaving the pot on the table and exiting the tent.

Pausing from her current action, Kjelle observed the work that Morgan had done, the pot turned helmet was shining brightly, dents left in and all. "Not bad runt, not bad." The knight smiled.

* * *

Inside Chrom's tent, Morgan was once again seated across from the exalt, once again to explain more of her story to her grandfather.

"Where do you want me to start from this time?" Morgan asked.

"How about telling me how you joined the army." Chrom suggested.

"Alright. In Hoshido and Nohr, there are these things called Deeprealms, pocket dimensions where time moves quicker. It was advised that married couples who had children place them there so that they could be safe from danger, the problem is that they miss how they grow up, what could be a day for them, could have been months or even years for us." Morgan began.

"So, that's what you meant when you didn't see your parents much." Chrom guessed.

"Right in one gramps. Now mom and dad weren't originally too pleased with it, but when the encampment was invaded on too many times, they had too relent. For what was a month of time for them, was sixteen years for me. One day I just up and left, I wanted to explore the world, not long after I, 'escaped'." She explained bending her fingers for emphasis. "I ran into Nina, she had not long done the same thing. While she was younger than me in terms of when we were born, her deeprealm passed quicker so she ended up being a little older than me. At the time, she was planning a heist against this old geezer who had been stealing from a nearby village, just as we were about to go in, he had hired some men from Corrin's army to help defend his stuff, the bastard had convinced them that they were his valuables." Morgan growled remembering the event, she and Nina had hit it off like two peas in pod.

"Who oversaw the defence then?" Chrom asked.

"Nina's father, Niles, and dad." Morgan answered. "Not the best of reunions, but Nina didn't have a good relationship with her old man. She was convinced that he had placed her in the deeprealm because he wanted to be rid of her. Of course, she didn't realise she was a princess at the time, though neither did I." The young tactician explained.

"Wait, Nina is a princess?" The Exalt was bewildered.

"Yep, the youngest princess of Nohr, daughter of Princess Camilla and Prince Niles." Morgan answered.

"Then what is she doing here? Surely there are more important things for her to be doing." Chrom wondered.

"She's the last in line for the throne, Siegbert, Forrest and Ignatius would all have to die for her, and even then, there's the rest of the Nohrian siblings to account for, and she doesn't want the throne anyway, she's got a thief's blood in her." The princess explained.

"How did your dad take it that you were helping a thief?" Chrom asked.

"Well to say he was not impressed would be an understatement. When he learned from Niles that I was aiding Nina he was absolutely livid, putting my skills as a tactician too thievery broke his heart, but I was determined to go through with it, not just for myself or for the villagers that had been victimised. But also for my friend, and how strongly she felt for her cause. In the end, we were caught by the combination of our father's, they had become good friends in our time away and were able to work together even better than me and Nina, and we had been training for a while." Morgan continued.

"I'm guessing you were both scolded." Chrom put his penny in.

"You have no idea, but we were able to convince them to look into the old bastard's dirty dealings and they were able to convict him of his crimes, so justice was served. But in return we had to join the army to be under their supervision." The tactician answered. "Later Ophelia would join us as well as Soleil and her brother Shigure. After that, we would invade Valla and finally enter the final stages of our journey." Morgan continued. "Ya know, I took a big risk explaining about Valla."

"How so?" Chrom asked.

"The land was cursed, if you mentioned its name outside of Valla, you would vanish from existence." The tactician explained. "But either I'm in a different dimension and it doesn't work on me, or Anankos' death removed the curse altogether."

"Then why did you risk it? I would not have had my granddaughter vanish before my eyes." Chrom argued.

"Glad you care gramps." Morgan smiled. "But I think that's everything for now, I'll explain some more another time. Me and Nina need to work on something."

"Alright, I'll let you go. But I don't wanna hear any trouble from you two." The exalt warned.

"No promises." The young tactician smiled as she left her tent.

Chrom sighed to himself, there were two more Shepherds to add to the list. The young Tanguel, Yarne, a coward sure, but did that just make him braver to know when to flee. But also, this Nina girl, being Morgan's friend he could trust her, but he feared for everyone else what kind of mayhem they could get into. At least Morgan and Kjelle had finally made up so that was one less headache for him to deal with.

"Another day goes by, there's not long now before we need to get the ships from Plegia." Chrom spoke to himself. "There's only one more place to visit and that's the Mercenary's fortress to the west. I'll give the details to everyone tomorrow. Heh, Robin, just what is your kid putting me through." He chuckled running a hand through his hair, some strands falling loose.

Looking at his desk, he noted one that was lighter than the others, in fact…it was grey. "Your making me sprout grey hair's Robin, just you wait till I see you again. I'll go all Maribelle on your Plegian ass." The exalt chuckled to himself, reminding himself of his tactician's recently discovered heritage.

"MILORD!" A voice from outside shouted.

"Frederick? What is it?" Chrom asked recognising the voice.

Entering the tent, clad only in a towel wrapped in his waist. "I believe these two are yours to deal with?" In his hands were Nina and Morgan, hanging sheepishly from the giant of a man's hands.

"What on Earth where you doing? And how did Morgan already make it to the bathhouse?" Chrom asked in wonder.

"I'm more surprised this guy caught us." Nina explained. "These hiding strategies are tried and tested, no one could ever find us before." She continued, crossing her arms.

"It's Freddy, he's super human." Morgan answered.

"I literally, just told you not to get into trouble. Sit them down Frederick, you go get a change of clothes." Chrom advised, as the great knight dumped the troublemakers in the seats at the table.

"Milord." Frederick said, before leaving to put some clothes on.

"Morgan's grandpa?" Nina asked.

"Yes Nina?" The exalt replied.

"Have you and him ever done anything together?" The outlaw grinned, a creepy smile on her face.

"Mom and dad told me that he once put posters of gramps naked around camp, we would have had a field day." Morgan replied, watching as her friend's eyes glazed over in perverted glee.

"Hehehe." Nina giggled creepily, blood starting to run down from her nose.

' _God's help me.'_ Chrom thought to himself burying his face into his hands.

* * *

 **A/N: And done, so what did you think of everyone's introduction. Rose the Pegasus is becoming sentient, we must all be careful of the pegasus uprising. I feel as though if Morgan and Nina had existed in the same game, the two would have gotten along like a house on fire, nigh inseparable. Anyway QOTD: What do you want to see in Fire Emblem Warriors and Fire Emblem Switch? Leave answeres in the reviews and I'll see you guys next time.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Welcome one and all to the next chapter of this fanfic. How you all feeling tonight?! *Chirp* *Chirp* *Chirp* No need to answer all at once. Anyway, this was a bugger to write, mainly because I was debating with myself how I wanted some scenes to go in this. And I think the quality for it drops off at a certain point. Now onto the reviews:**

 **Tychon: We've been able to sort out the miscommunication here, so thats good.**

 **Draen: I'm afraid I can't reveal that information, you'll just have to wait and see. Eirika would've been a nice choice for DW-esque Fire Emblem Game, but too many sword lords for them. PS: I 5*d my Reinhardt today.**

 **LaKingVox: You're making me blush here, thanks for the praise and support. And your wish has been granted this is the longest chapter I've ever written.**

 **JamesBCrazy: I find it funny that her lineage has two dancers and she can't do it herself, and Olivia's tag has her as the best singer in the Shepherds too. Where did it go wrong? Yeah, Mary Sue Avatar's suck.**

 **RobbyOnions: Thanks for the support and the praise. Yeah, Nina and Morgan are the resident pranksters of their respective generation in their games so it feels only natural for them to be good friends. The Pegasus came to me in a dream, he told me to give them all the sugar cubes...that is all. I was sure I heard somewhere it was mostly 1-13-14, guess I was wrong. Robin was a it OP and Corrin was bland, Mark seems to be the best way to do an avatar. I think IS are making it a point to fully voice act everything now. Probably because of a bigger budget. I havent had the fortune to play through Tellius...I was too poor to get them. And Fate's story was pretty bad, mainly for how it screwed over some characters *cough* Xander *cough*.**

 **Tyrant Ratatosk: Is it bad that when I saw your name I automatically thought of the Norse Squirrel that lives on the Yggdrasil. All of those Choices were nice, though I will admit to seeing a lot of mixed thoughts on Faye.**

 **That's all of them now as some of you know, as in the ones of your who have read 'Noble Pursuits', if you haven't you should totally check it out, shameless self promotion over, but I've got another poll about story idea's on my profile. Don't forget to read the AN at then end to get some more info on the choices. Now I've been listening to Gorillaz 'Feel Good INC.' while writing this whole thing and I need to start working on my new Brave Squad team on Heroes, and now onto the chapter:**

* * *

Chapter 8- Savage Thorns and Flirting Fiasco

Morning came quickly for Robin, after listening to Shigure's performance and filling his belly, he had retired for the night. Exhaustion from the day had caught up with him quickly, and Cynthia had been roped into hiding Brady from his mother's warpath after the grim looking priest had been able to escape again, so the tactician had pretty much been out like a candle as soon as his head hit his pillow.

Unlike the previous two days, the talk of the mess tent was not on him but rather on Henry, his relationship with Olivia becoming public knowledge, yet the dark mage seemed to be taking it in his stride, Pablo, the dog the pair had found as well as being the new mascot for the Shepherds, was happily enjoying the fussing Henry was giving him. No one ever said that Henry was good with names.

"I'm honestly surprised, never thought Junior would be the one to land Babe, the world is full of surprises." Gaius wondered aloud from his seat next to Robin.

"We live in a world where people can turn into dragons and rabbits, our own children are travelling through time and are our age, and we are travelling to a gate that has existed for over one thousand years. Yet you're surprised by two people being in a relationship?" Robin explained with a brow raised.

"When did our lives get so weird?" The thief asked back.

"Only life I've known." Robin chuckled. "Also, your nicknames, you might want to start thinking about changing Olivia's, how did you come up with it anyways?"

"Trust me I'm thinking. Babe's came from how she acts like a new born babe, being all shy and timid and all." Gaius answered.

"True." The tactician nodded.

"And the fact she was smoking hot." The red head continued.

"Also tru-Gaius! You're a married man." Robin corrected himself, doing his best to keep his voice down.

"Hey, this was before me and Twinkles even made up, and you were just about to agree Bubbles, Mr I'm-dating-the-future-princess." Gaius argued, shooting a glare the tacticians way.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The tactician replied, turning away from the thief.

"Mature, real mature." Gaius grumbled.

"Anyway, back on topic, how has the interacting with Brady been?" Robin asked with genuine curiosity. Other than Vaike and Cherche, the red head and Maribelle where the only Shepherds in his group that had met their children. And since Gerome almost outright refused to interact with his parents, much to their dismay, but he was getting there, the noble couple were the only pair that could give him an honest answer.

"Truthfully. It's weird, one day I'm just living my life normally. Sneaking sweets, spying on enemies, trying to catch Maribelle off guard." Gaius began.

"What?" Robin asked, though was completely blanked. _'I have strange friends.'_

"The next I suddenly have a kid my age, gone through hell and back, and I'm now doing my best to act like father of the year." The thief added. "Call it paternal instinct, but hearing what that kid's gone through, it struck a chord in me, ya know. It's only been a frickin day, and I'm already wanting to go and take down any Risen that come in my path."

"Chrom acted the same as soon as Lucina was born, running around like a headless chicken for nearly nine months, how he kept the kingdom together I never know, worrying whether or not he would be a good father. Yet on that day, the day he became a father, he became one of the most protective people I have seen until now, you're only just starting to become like him." Robin explained.

"Me becoming like Blue? Don't know how I feel about that." Gaius chuckled. "What about you Bubbles, think you'll be having a kid soon?"

"I highly doubt it. If a child of mine did show up, I think I would have more questions than anyone, not to mention Chrom would probably kill me, that's if he hadn't already. I'm scared for Lon'qu when we get back." The tactician answered.

"I think Maribelle would want to join in, that man is in for a world of hurt." The red haired thief agreed.

"Robin, a word if you wouldn't mind?" The voice of a newcomer asked.

"Ah, Shigure, what is it that you want to talk about?" Robin replied, as Gaius took the hint to skedaddle.

"I believe that divulging some more information on my sister would help in my search for her." The blue haired boy answered.

"Very well, what are you willing to share?" The tactician asked, entering into full diplomat mode.

"Like me, she has blue hair, but hers is slightly darker and faded with a white headband. You will generally find her trying to flirt with anything with a skirt too." Shigure replied.

"Thankfully no one in the Shepherds would prejudice her for that. Anything else?" Robin urged.

"I'm afraid that is all I'm willing to partake with for now." The pegasus rider replied.

"Shrewd, very shrewd. I would fear to be the one on your bad side." The tactician commented.

"My goal is to become a diplomat in my homeland, learning how to negotiate is the basis for my career." Shigure explained.

"Agreed, I'm not one to brag but I wasn't named as a grandmaster for nothing. After this meal, we will be departing for a landmark known as the Great Gate, a structure that has greatly been able to withstand the test of time, after that we will only have one more destination before we up with our main group." Robin divulged.

"I'm afraid I don't understand, what is your current goal?" The blue haired artist asked, a brow raised.

Robin sighed, it seems Shigure wasn't well informed on current events. "Shigure, we are merely a scouting party, our primary objective was to explore Valm first hand and find the most strategic points of the continent. Finding people was a secondary priority, it has merely been sheer luck on our side, we just so happened to be in the right place at the right time." The tactician explained.

"So, your words yesterday were merely hot air?" Shigure accused, his face levelling into a glare.

"No, what I spoke was true, I do intend to help you find your sister, we all do. But I need you to understand that we are about to enter a war and our attentions will be forced to be elsewhere. The only reason we are here now is because of the Valmese being overconfident in their forces and underestimating the combined strength of Regna Ferox and Ylisse, which has given us the golden opportunity." Robin continued.

"I understand." The pegasus knight sighed.

"I was never wishing to deceive you Shigure, your resolve to see your sister safe reminds me that of a dear friend, a man I feel close enough to call brother. Once we are done, you are welcome to join the Shepherds, and with some luck we may be able to find Soleil while we are fighting here." The Robin finished, not noticing the way the blue haired man seemed to gloss over, as if he had once had a similar conversation before.

"If it comes to that I would accept the offer, I'm no stranger to fighting and a strategist once told me that having flying units is always a welcome addition to any plan." Shigure smiled.

"Thank you, and whoever they were seems to know what they are doing. Pegasi and Wyverns both have strong mobility and can help ferry other units across large chasms or bodies of water so long as they have protection from archers and wind magic." Robin agreed.

"He is certainly a great man." The knight whispered, unheard, before closing his eyes to reminisce.

The clattering of cutlery and plates behind them seemed to signify that the majority of the Shepherds had finished with their meals and were departing from the mess tent. An even more redder than usual Olivia almost seemed to run out of the tent, probably from having have been the centre of attention.

"It seems our time is up, this has been a nice discussion Shigure. I'm glad that I have been able to regain your trust after my earlier comments." Robin said with a small bow.

"I never once believed you would do anything else, but even a little scare tactic can be helpful when talking terms." Shigure smiled, leaving the tent.

"They do indeed work." Robin agreed, mostly to himself.

"Ready to go Robin?" A peppy voice sounded.

"Yes, Cynthia, let's hope that we can find one more of your friends at our destination." The tactician agreed.

"Definitely, we've been able to find someone wherever we go, call it luck or whatever but that's still awesome." Cynthia giggled. "Now get your keester in gear buster, we both still need to pack and being last is not heroic at all." The blue haired princess nodded to herself while trying to appear threatening as she pulled him across camp.

"If you're trying to scare me, it's not working, you just look more adorable than you normally do." Robin replied.

"You know you can just act it." Cynthia pouted, trying her best ignore the rising heat in her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help it." The tactician smiled.

"You're lucky you're cute buster." The princess glared. Until her façade fell and both she and Robin burst out into laughter, grabbing the attention of all those around them.

"Don't think I've ever seen her this happy." Brady commented as he Owain and Gerome stood around, having already finished their odd jobs.

"Yet she's always smiling?" Gerome asked, raising a brow.

"Just because someone's got a smile on their face don't mean they're happy." The priest replied.

"Right you are Brady of the Scorching Sunset- 'When the hell did you come up with that.'- a smile is only as strong as the one wielding it." Owain agreed, ignoring his orange haired friend's outburst.

"You make it sound as though it were a weapon." The wyvern rider added.

"Of course, a smile can be a deadly weapon in the face of adversity, it could make an opponent think twice, or even become rash." The swordsman explained.

"I find that difficult to believe." Gerome replied.

"That's cos you're all glum all the time, fate this, fate that. That's all it is with you." Brady glared.

"I'm realistic." The blonde grumbled.

"You say realistic, I say pessimistic." Owain added.

"Well maybe you're just too optimistic." Gerome glared.

"And just what do you think you boys are doing standing around?" A deceptively sweet voice sounded, causing the three young adults to freeze up, slowing turning towards the owner.

"I would have to agree." Another said, standing next to the first.

"Ma?!" "Mother?" "Lady Maribelle and Lady Cherche?!" They sounded as they came face to face.

"Well?" Maribelle asked again, holding her parasol between her hands.

"We were, we were just talking, about…things." Brady answered, poorly.

"And what of your belongings?" Cherche asked, brow raised.

"Already packed away." Gerome answered, trying to meet his mother's gaze. He was failing.

"So instead of being good young gentleman and help us ladies with our own equipment, you would rather waste your time discussing frivolities like harlots." Maribelle glared at the trio, as they cowered under her gaze.

"Uhhh…yes?" Owain answered?

"Just as I thought, now come along Brady there is work to be done." The blonde noble said as she marched towards her son, before dragging him off by the ear.

"Ahhh, Ma! That hurts!" The priest complained, as he was led away.

"It's meant too." Was Maribelle's reply as Brady's complaints faded away.

"Must I do the same thing to you Gerome?" Cherche asked, rhetorically.

"No, Mother." The blonde replied, as he followed behind the rose haired woman, leaving Owain alone.

"I guess that's one advantage to mother still being in Ylisee." The myrmidon said to himself as he turned around, only to come face to face with couple he was talking about before. "Ahh!"

"Hello to you too Owain." Robin smirked, as Cynthia giggled next to him. "I couldn't help but overhear that you have nothing to do at the moment."

"That is, well you see…" The brown haired man tried to explain.

"Then you wouldn't mind helping me and then Robin with our tents and belonging's, now would you?" Cynthia asked, a wide smile on her face.

"Alright." Owain agreed, unable to resist the double teaming effort.

"Consider this punishment for spying on us before." Robin grinned.

"He was spying on us?!" The princess shrieked. "Oh, you're in for it now mister."

' _Now I wish mother were here.'_ Owain thought to himself, an imaginary storm cloud appearing over his head.

* * *

 _In Ylisse_

"Achoo!" Lissa sneezed, for the second time in as many minutes.

"Are you coming down with something, grandmother?" Ophelia asked beside her, with some worry.

"It's nothing. Probably just someone talking about me." The elder woman smiled, brushing it aside.

"If you say so." The olive haired girl replied, momentarily dropping her tone of phrasing. "I'm still not sure if I should introduce myself to my other grandparents."

"Well you haven't even told ME who they are so I can't really help you with that." Lissa said.

"I know grandmother, but I fear if I tell you then you will accidentally scream it out loud." The dark mage answered.

"C'mon you can trust me. I promise." The elder cleric urged.

"Okay then, it's-"

"CORDLEIA IS OPHELIA'S GRANDMOTHER!"

* * *

 _A few minutes earlier_

"Yoh Morg, why didn't you tell me that Caeldori and Rhajat were here?" Nina asked her friend, they were both suffering under the gaze of Frederick, and only just when Morgan had escaped his sight. But deciding that the delinquent duo needed another set of eyes, Stahl had also been roped in, the man having been dragged away from him mountainous breakfast pile.

"They aren't." Was Morgan's swift reply.

"But I just saw them walking around camp." The outlaw argued.

"That's Cordelia and Tharja." The blue haired girl answered.

"Those are literally just anagrams of their names!" Nina cried.

"I know its creepy, I wondered myself the same thing. But you can tell they're different, they have different styles when fighting." Morgan explained.

"Fair enough. Hey, you remember how Ophelia's mother used to always glare at Cael, you ever figured out why she did that?" The purple haired girl asked.

"It's because Caeldori was the spitting image of Selena's mother, Cordelia." The tactician grinned.

"Yeah I guess that makes sense." Nina agreed, not realising immediately what she had heard.

' _3-2-1'_ Morgan counted down in her head, as her friends eye seem to bulge in realisation.

"CORDELIA IS OPHELIA'S GRANDMOTHER!" The outlaw shouted out loud for the entire march to hear.

"You say what now?" Stahl asked at the revelation.

"Nina…They didn't know." Morgan sighed, her head finding itself suddenly meeting with her palm.

"Oh…whoops." Nina spoke, a sheepish smile now sprouting on her face.

"So, that new kid Ophelia's my granddaughter…was wondering why her hair colour was similar to mine." The green clad knight wondered aloud.

"Sorry Sir Stahl, Ophelia didn't want to say anything. Her mother has a bit of an inferiority complex, and Ophelia thought that she would think that she failed as a mother." Morgan explained for the usually one track minded man.

"It's alright, but I wonder how Cordy's gonna take it?" Stahl replied, his lax nature taking over.

* * *

 _With Lissa and Ophelia_

"Well that happened." Ophelia sighed out, as the sound of beating wings alerted them to the gusty winds made the pair cling onto them any loose belongings.

"I'm guessing what I heard was not a mistake." The rider spoke.

"No, it wasn't grandmother Cordelia." The dark mage replied.

Dismounting, with spear in hand, the red haired knight walked towards the duo, her face neutral betraying any emotion the pegasus rider would be feeling at the time.

"Get behind me Ophelia." Lissa advised.

"I need to face this challenge head on, the stars will it." Ophelia replied, shaking her head.

"Do you have any proof?" Cordelia asked, stopping in front of them.

Digging into her pockets, which surprised both Cordelia and Lissa since neither expected the skimpy clothing to have anything that could resemble a place to store anything, Ophelia pulled out a ring, a ring that was very familiar to Cordelia.

"My mother gave me this ring, she said should I ever be separated from her and find myself in place called Ylisse, that I should find a woman named Cordelia and show her this. She said you where my grandmother and you would know what to do, before adding 'like she always does'." The olive haired girl explained, carefully handling the coveted piece of jewellery.

The red haired knight smiled, moving closer towards the dark mage, before pulling her close in a tight embrace. "I'm glad that I can meet you formally now, Ophelia."

"Grandmother." The young girl, whimpered, burying her face into the older woman, as relief washed over her.

"How does it feel?" Lissa asked.

"Strange, yet warm. As if I found a part of me that I didn't even know was missing." Cordelia replied.

"Welcome to the club." The cleric smiled.

* * *

 _To Morgan and Nina_

"Who in Naga's name just screamed like a banshee?" Chrom asked bewildered, he wouldn't be surprised if the enemy knew they were coming.

"Sorry Morgan's grandfather. It was a bit of surprise for me to hear." The outlaw replied, still feeling a bit sheepish.

"Don't blame her gramps, she can get protective of her friends, she gets it from her mother." Morgan explained, remembering how much the eldest princess of Nohr used to almost crush her when she had realised that the blue haired girl was her daughter's best friend.

"Even still, you may have alerted the enemy to our presence, we need to clear them out of the fortress." The Exalt explained.

Over the edge of the horizon was a large stone building, the desert surroundings of the area had left most of the stones covered. And they were headed right for it.

"This is our last stop before we head back to Port Ferox, hopefully now with ships from Plegia waiting for us." Chrom continued.

"Where are you headed like?" Nina asked, still not fully brought up to speed.

"Valm, there's a man calling himself the Conqueror, he's named Walhart. He's been taking over the continent by force and he launched an invasion against Ferox nearly a month ago. As much as it pains me to bring everyone into another war, it is my duty as Exalt to stop him from becoming a threat to this world." The blue haired man explained.

"Dad told me that Walhart always had bright red armour." Morgan added.

"So, he's like a lobster?" Nina asked.

"Yeah, just like Lord Ryoma…a lobster." The tactician smiled remembering back to when they had given the future king his nickname.

"That…makes him sound much less threatening than he should be." Chrom chuckled, now imagining a crustacean on the Valmese throne.

"Milord, I believe it's time we got into position." Frederick advised.

"Very well Frederick. Morgan ideas?" The Exalt asked.

"Split into two groups. One advances into the main hall while the other circles around removing any reinforcements with both groups eventually meeting up before advancing on the leader. Pretty simple unless we have some unforeseen circumstances, like say someone constantly trying to advance forward without any support." Morgan explained, not realising how much of that was true at the time.

"Frederick, make sure that Libra and Lissa have a surplus of Rescue staffs with them?" Chrom whispered to his loyal knight, feeling a bad omen.

* * *

The groups had been decided. The main force would wait until the others were in position before beginning the attack. Morgan and Nina were with the group that were infiltrating from behind, with them were Lissa, Lon'qu, Lucina, Stahl, Cordelia, Ophelia and Kjelle. The group were advancing towards the side entrance, but in their path, was a lone girl in a light brown leather armour covering a dark brown sweater with a red pauldron on her left arm. She also had a leather combat skirt with armour that came up to her knees. Her hair was tied in two pigtails that extended down passed her hips and coloured a familiar olive green, with a scowl that seemed to perpetually be stuck there.

"Oh no." Ophelia whispered, making sure the girl wouldn't hear her.

"Ophelia what's wrong?" Cordelia asked.

The dark mage remained silent, fearing the worst.

"You see what I see don'tcha Morgan?" Nina asked, turning towards her friend.

"Yeah, I see, and this just got a whole lot harder." The tactician answered. "Me and my big mouth."

"Morgan, Nina." Lissa started. "Can you please tell us what's happening?"

"Lucina, you mind explaining for us, you know this better than us." Morgan asked her aunt, who was also staring at the girl who hadn't seemed to notice them yet.

"The person in front of us is a friend of mine, her name is Severa. And she is your daughter Lady Cordelia…and Ophelia's mother, which is probably why she is acting so retreated." The future witness explained.

"Do you think you could talk to her, she seems like she would listen to you." Lissa advised.

"I'll do my best, but she can be prickly." Lucina replied, as she started walking toward the lone mercenary.

"Severa." She stated, causing the girl to jump.

"Lucina, what are you doing here? Thought you were out saving the world." The girl replied.

"That is still my primary goal, but I have made the mistake that I had advised us not to make when we first decided to go back in time." The princess explained.

"Such a daddy's girl, just couldn't hold it back anymore eh? Never knew you had an Oedipus complex." Severa spat.

"I most certainly do not, it was a mistake on my part. I saw my father's life in danger and by the time I had realised that the words have left my mouth I was guarding him from an assassin." Lucina revealed.

"Pah, it's just an excuse. But that still hasn't answered my question. What are you doing here?" The mercenary asked again.

"After I had unwittingly revealed myself, I explained to father that I wasn't the only one of us who came back. He made it his goal to find as many of us as possible, Sir Robin is currently in Valm to see if any of our group arrived there." The princess explained.

"Nice to know you haven't forgotten us. Who've you found so far?" Severa asked.

"So far we have found Kjelle, Nah, Noire, Laurent and Yarne." Lucina said.

"That leaves the three stooges, doom and gloom with his pet wyvern and your sister." The mercenary listed off earning a glare. "What they are."

"Need I remind you that one of those stooges is my cousin." The blue haired girl said.

"Yeah, and he's the worst of them. And who's those lot over there? I can already see your aunt and uncle and my dad…and Cordelia. But the rest of them are not people I know?" Severa asked, spitting when she said the name of the woman she called her mother.

"I'll explain after this, we need to clear out this fortress. They've been harassing a nearby village." Lucina explained.

"Fine. But there's a sad sack in there named Holland who really shouldn't be there, let me talk to him so I can convince him to get out of here, then I'll join you. Make sure no one hurts him or…" The olive haired girl threatened making a slicing animation with her hand across her neck.

"Alright, I shall inform them. Just try to keep calm around you parents." The princess advised.

"No promises." Severa spat.

"What did she say?" Morgan asked, her father had never told her much of how they had recruited her friend's mother, only that it had been a struggle since they hadn't been able to convince Severa to work with them until she had met with the villager, and the mercenary had kept running into the fortress recklessly and the Shepherds had nearly been forced to use their surplus of Rescue staffs on the stubborn girl.

"She'll help us, we just have to make sure she gets to someone and convince him to escape, no one is allowed to attack him." Lucina explained.

"Right, don't hurt the guy in the pot helmet, everything else is golden. Right, let's move." Morgan commanded as they made their into the fortress.

As her friend had left, Severa had once again cast a glance over the group she was with, or rather one in particular. The mercenary scowled. The girl was clad in a skin tight yellow bodysuit that seemed to barely cover the important parts, and she was standing far too close to her parents for her liking, despite the grudge she held with her mother, she still needed her alive. With the altered timeline, if the news she had heard through the grapevine was to be believed, then she would have yet to be conceived in this time. What else was strange about her was that her hair colour was the same as hers, and she got that from her father, and it was unique to them alone. Whoever this girl was, Severa would deal with her before the day was out, mark her words.

* * *

As they made their way through the building, the foes attention was distracted by the main assault meaning that those who weren't paying attention were cut down swiftly, Morgan couldn't help but feel as though it was too easy. Either she was starting to come into her own as a tactician, or her father was just sloppy in this battle. But then again, her father had said that Severa had charged in ahead of them, and the extra helping hand could be what was aiding them.

"Holland should just be through those doors, anyone know how to pick a lock?" Severa asked, looking around the group.

"I know a thing or two, but Nina this is more your thing since time is of the essence." Morgan answered, giving the purple haired outlaw the go ahead as she set to her work, taking a hold of the apparatus she had on her hip and after a bit of fiddling around, she smiled as an all too familiar yet satisfying 'thunk' sound was heard.

"And…we're done." Nina announced, pushing the large wooden doors open.

"Oh gods they're here. Just keep it together Holland." A rather unassuming mercenary whimpered out, clutching his makeshift spear in his hands, and making sure his helmet was securely attached to his head.

"What do you think you're doing Holland?" The olive girl mercenary glared.

"Severa?! What are you doing, what if Nelson see's you with the enemy?!" The villager yelled in fear.

"I'm leaving Holland, and you should too. This is not the life for you or your family." Severa answered, hardening her glare.

"But, the money. I need it for-" Holland started.

"Your wife is PREGNANT! She needs as much help as she can get, and what about your child. How would it feel if they had to grow up without a child, gods know there are too many of us in the world." The younger girl argued, sparing a quick glance towards the mounted couple.

"I-I had no idea." The villager frowned, before seeming to steel his resolve. "You're right, I don't need Nelson's bloody money, let's get out of here."

"You go on ahead, there's still some things I need to do here. That ass is holding something precious to me and I need to get it back." Severa replied, as the pot wearing man nodded before rushing on ahead. "Now that that's done, just one more thing to do…but first." The olive haired girl said slowly, turning back towards the group, her gaze resting on the lone dark mage.

"What is it Severa?" Lucina asked.

She received her answer when the mercenary charged forward pushing Ophelia's back against the near wall, her feet dangling in the air, holding her in place with her forearm as she pointed her sword at the young girl's face. "Who the hell are you?!" The mercenary screamed.

"Ophy!" "Ophelia!" Morgan and Nina cried, the outlaw knocking an arrow into her bow, but was stopped from firing it by her friend.

"You might hit Ophy, and we can't harm Severa either." Morgan told her friend, watching as Lissa was barely holding Lon'qu back for the same reasons.

"Severa stop this! You're hurting her!" Lucina yelled at her friend.

"Good! Maybe that way she'll tell me who she is and why she has the same hair as me!" Severa replied, her fury being brought to bear.

"She won't be able to tell you if you keep choking her!" The princess argued.

"Mo-moth-" The dark mage tried to say, doing her best to delve through her pocket.

"C'mon! Spit it out!" Severa growled, tightening her grip.

"Severa, stop this now!" Cordelia yelled, a harsh glare on her face.

"I'm stopping nothing 'mother', for all I know she could be a follower of Grima sent here to kill you or dad or even me!" The mercenary replied, spitting the word as if it were poison on her tongue, yet she was slightly surprised at the lack of reaction from the elder woman.

"Why would she want to kill her own mother or family!" The pegasus knight informed, much to the surprise of everyone present. Not expecting the paragon knight to be the one who would let the information go so easily.

"W-what?" Severa questioned, her voice much quieter and her grip slackening, though Ophelia was still struggling for breath, but it was slightly easier.

"M-mother?" Ophelia asked, raising her hand, a ring being in the centre it.

"How…how do you have my mother's ring?!" The mercenary yelled, though now tears were starting to form in her eyes.

"You gave it to her, the future you anyway, it was in case you ever got separated." Morgan answered for her friend, who was still pinned.

"How can I trust you or her?" Severa asked, not fully believing the story.

"Look at her arm, I think you'll be surprised by what you'll see." The tactician replied, keeping a stoic face.

Letting the dark mage go, Ophelia dropped to her knees and began a coughing fit as she took in her salvation of oxygen, before being roughly brought to her feet, while still trying to recover.

"Show me what's on your arm or so help me." The mercenary threatened, pointing her sword towards the girl's face.

Nodding, Ophelia rolled up her sleeve, and, standing proudly against her skin, was the Brand of the Exalt.

"There's no way…there's just no way." Severa whispered, dropping her weapon letting it clatter on the ground before falling to her knees.

Realising the threat was gone, everyone let loose a collected breath they didn't know they were holding and rushed towards the olive haired duo. Lissa and Lon'qu rushing towards their granddaughter to make sure she was alright, the swordsman's 'condition' momentarily forgotten, as Lucina double checked on her friend.

"Are you alright Sev?" Lucina asked with trepidation.

"How long?" The mercenary questioned.

"How do you mean?" The princess replied, brow raised.

"How long have you known, how long she's been here and how long have my parents known?" Severa listed off, raising her head, her face and eyes both red as well as puffy, tear tracks staining her normally scowling face.

"I learned when we found her, in the desert in the East of Ylisse, she was with Laurent searching for Morgan." The future princess answered.

"And my parents?" The olive haired girl asked again.

"Since only this morning, her friend over there unwittingly revealed it to everyone." Lucina replied.

"Who's the father?" Severa questioned.

"I think you already know." The blue haired girl smiled.

"Yeah…I do." The mercenary bowed her head. "I'm a failure."

"No!" A voice rang out.

"Ophelia?" Lissa asked, surprised at the sudden outburst.

Shrugging loose her overprotective elders, the dark mage ran towards the downed mercenary, all previous fear gone.

"You didn't fail." The olive haired girl said resolutely.

"Of course, I did. Why else would you be here?" Severa replied rhetorically.

"I came here of my own volition, to help my friend. Not because of something you or father did wrong. You raised me as any good mother would have, with a loving family and caring mother." Ophelia smiled, tears starting to form.

"I'm sorry…for what I did. I hurt you. I hurt my own daughter." The mercenary sobbed, dropping her head, before raising it again as she was pulled into a tight embrace.

"You didn't know, I can't you blame you for that." The dark mage whispered, holding her mother close. Something she hadn't done in what felt like forever.

Unable to hold it in any longer, the dam that held both mother and daughter's emotions back broke. As multiple 'I'm sorry's' and reassurances were traded back and forth between the two, everyone else smiled, thankful that the ordeal was over.

"That went about as well as I expected. So much for Ophelia not revealing herself." Morgan sighed, shaking her head, but still sending silent prayers of thanks to Naga.

"That was scarier than it should have been." Nina agreed, wiping her brow. "Can't believe she would have reacted like that."

"You saw how violent Selena was, and this is when she was still volatile and prone to violent outbursts." The tactician replied.

"Yeah but I wasn't expecting THAT. I almost thought she would've actually killed Ophelia there." The outlaw added.

"It's over now, no need to go on about it." Lucina spoke towards the quarrelling pair. "Hope you are ready for some more explanations, there will be questions you know." The princess glared, expecting answers later.

As the sounds of crying slowed, Opehlia and Severa pulled away from each other, the tears finally stopping.

"I can't believe I had a kid with Owain of all people." The mercenary groaned, looking towards her sword.

"You had a child with your sword?" Ophelia asked brow raised, though a smile on her face.

"How do you know about that?" Severa hissed, eyes wide. No one else knew that she had engraved that dork's name on her weapon.

"I'm your daughter, remember." The dark mage grinned.

"Still getting used to that." The elder girl spoke. "Now I need to think of a way to make it up to you." Severa sighed.

"Well I heard there was a bookstore in a nearby town, and I could do with some knew tomes and books." Ophelia said, looking away, putting her finger to her chin as she dropped the hint.

"Of all the traits to have picked up from me." The olive haired woman groaned, well there goes her coin purse.

"Not to be the one who normally breaks apart touching moments like this, but we are still in the middle of a battle if the sounds of clashing weapons are anything to go by." Morgan coughed, as all eyes went on her, as the familiar sounds of steel on steel sung out.

"Yeah, that bastard, Nelson, still has my ring. Well my version of mother's ring anyway." Severa agreed. "Who are you by the way, Lucina said you were Morgan right?"

"That's my name, strategies are my game." The tactician replied, a smile on her face.

"Please don't tell me she actually did it Lucina." The mercenary groaned.

"She did." Lucina spoke.

"I told you not to tell me!" Severa shouted with a scowl.

"Good to see you back to your normal self." The princess smiled.

"Of course, that was just a one time thing." The olive haired girl turned away. "Besides, we need to get a this don't we." Severa grinned, picking up 'Owain'.

"There's the mother I know." Ophelia cheered. "As the chosen one reunites with her legendary mother, they shall go on to slay all who would dare stand in their way." The dark mage announced, returning to her intricate speech pattern.

"Remind me to punch your cousin when I see him." The mercenary growled towards her princess.

"I'll join you." Lucina added.

"I'm missing out on fighting here!" Kjelle yelled.

"Kjelle!" Severa shouted. "Forgot you were here." The mercenary blinked.

"Who am I, Kellam?" The knight asked.

"You said my name?" A quiet voice sounded next to them, causing everyone to jump.

"Gah! Kellam! How long have you been there?" Lissa asked, holding a hand to her chest trying to still her beating heart.

"Not that long, I was informed to tell you that the leader's been defeated and that we're done here." The brown haired knight answered, at least he hadn't been there the whole time this time.

"Not until I get my ring." Severa announced as she marched towards the fortress throne room.

Following the determined girl, Ophelia hot on her heels. The group found their way to the main force, Chrom waiting for them, a brow raised as his great niece seemed to jovially skip past him a large grin on her face, closely followed by a smiling Stahl and Cordelia.

"What got into her?" He asked to no one in particular.

"A lot. Threats were made, tears were shed and it all worked out in the end." Was Morgan's curt reply.

"Ah, Morgan, I thought the plan was for your group to meet up with the main force? We feared something may have happened to you." Chrom wondered.

"We had a personal situation, but it was sorted out in the end. It's also the reason why Ophelia is so happy right now." The tactician in training answered.

"So long as it's all worked out. Our next stop will be Port Ferox where we'll set sail for Valm." The Exalt explained.

"Sailing means boats doesn't it." Morgan paled.

"I'm afraid it does." Chrom replied, remembering their experience on boat crossing towards the Manor of Lost Souls.

"Is it too late to find my own pegasus?" The blue haired girl asked.

"I don't think it would be able to fly for a week without pause Morgan." Chrom answered.

"Damn it." Morgan groaned out.

"Never knew you got seasick Morgan." Nina grinned, now having some blackmail material.

"I didn't either until a little back." The tactician frowned, realising she was now on the backfoot.

"Now you know how I feel when you dragged me on a joy ride or whenever I went with mother on her wyvern." The outlaw replied.

"Still can't believe you get airsick. Your mother is on a wyvern half the time!" Morgan cried.

"Not my fault my body doesn't like it. Anyway, we need to get down to business." Nina grinned, though this one had a heavy undertone to it.

Noticing the grin her friend had, Morgan returned it with just as much equal forced behind it. "Lead the way partner." She said. "Bye gramps, don't wait up for me." Morgan waved running off.

"Just so long as I don't receive any more reports on your behaviour, or you'll be seeing me earlier than you would think!" Chrom shouted after them, before letting out a sigh. "Not long now, and then she's all your problem Robin." The Exalt said to himself with a shake of his head as he watched his sister and brother-in-law start to engage in a conversation with Cordelia and Stahl, the new girl and Ophelia standing between them and quickly turning red.

"This families only getting bigger, I'm gonna need a rollcall for it in Valm at this rate." Chrom chuckled to himself as the new olive haired mercenary seemed to lose it and have a large outburst.

* * *

 _In Valm_

"Gah!" Was the dying sound of a pair of brigands, swiftly being cut down by two competing figures.

"Inigo, Soleil! Don't you realise what you've done." Was the cry of a village maiden. The prize.

"I understand what I've done, that this bandit's friends will want revenge for his fallen friend. But I just couldn't let a lovely maiden like you suffer." Inigo answered. He was wearing a light blue uniform with the top buttons opened up, a belt reaching from his shoulder over his front that had the sheath for his sword on the back, with a light blue pauldron on his shoulder. On his waist was a light brown belt that helped keep up his leggings and had light blue armour on his legs. He had pale white hair with a silver ear ring in his right ear.

"If it'll make you feel better my lovely flower, I'll make sure I beat all their friends and be back in time for tea." Soleil grinned, ignoring the glare she received from her competitor. Her armour was a black sweater with gold studs and white sleeves and gloves. She had a silver pauldron on her right shoulder with an intricate pattern designed on it. She had a pale pink skirt that ended just above her knees with a white belt. Her thighs were armoured all the way to her feet as she kept her sword on her shoulder. She had pale blue hair kept up with a white and gold headband. While she tried to keep a cool persona, she looked as though she were about to faint. It didn't help that the pair had a murder of crows circling above them.

"Are you okay Soleil, your face is growing red?" The unnamed girl asked.

"Oh, I'm fine, right as rain." The blue haired girl replied.

"I'd best be off before they realise their comrades aren't returning." Inigo announced, slipping away.

"No fair, you're getting a headstart, wait up!" Soleil cried running to catch up, the crows following above them.

"I hope they aren't a bad omen." The village maiden whispered to herself as the flock chased after the competing pair.

* * *

 _With the Shepherds_

The group were marching up a large hill inside a forest, Robin had decided to remain on the ground for this trip, saying that he needed the exercise otherwise Frederick would put him through a fitness hour again. Cynthia had at first been a little hesitant as she had grown used to the two of them being together on Rose, but when he mentioned Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour she agreed without any resistance, remembering the days when she was very young when her father would have been too exhausted to play with her because of it.

Robin was beginning to regret his decision with how steep the hill was, wiping the sweat from his bro, before accepting a flask of water being handed to him by the Shepherds resident dancer.

"Thanks Olivia, you're a life saver." The tactician thanked, though he would admit that his heat haze was causing him to overexaggerate.

"Not really, all I do is dance." The pink haired dancer replied, as she went to hand another flask to her new fiancé, who thanked her, but seemed to be deep in thought about something.

"Henry, you're not usually like this, what's wrong?" Robin asked.

"It's caws my crows haven't returned, I had sent them out this morning to scout ahead as usual. But they aren't out this long." The dark mage answered, his usual jovial nature absent.

"Do you think something happened to them?" The tactician asked his fellow white haired man.

"They respond to my blood, I know they're around caws I feel it in my blood. So, the only way that they would be delayed would be if someone with my blood would be around where they are." Henry smiled, seemingly to have a reached a conclusion.

"With everything that's happening, I wouldn't be surprised. Still it's a strange coincidence that you just got engaged yesterday and now you might have found some kin." Robin chuckled, remembering how the same thing had happened to Vaike and Cherche.

"Nyahahah! You're right!" The dark mage cackled as he felt the urge to surge ahead.

"Ah! Henry, wait!" Olivia cried as she went to catch up with him.

"Reporting in!" A familiar voice sounded from above the tactician.

"Ah Cynthia, any news?" Robin smiled as the princess and Rose descended, the pegasus nudging the tactician for her usual treat. "You're gonna get fat if you keep this up." He chuckled as he produced the sugarcube from his coat pocket, only to reserve a snort in response. "Now now, I'm only joking."

"If you're done playing favourites, I've got some juicy news." Cynthia grinned, dismounting.

"I think she's gone crazy." Robin whispered to the pegasus. Rose just seemed to give a look that screamed 'and you haven't'.

"Oh, ha ha ha! I'm serious here!" The blue haired princess pouted.

"I'm sorry, now what is it you wanted to say." The white haired man apologised.

"Uh uh, you have to make it up to me first." Cynthia argued.

"What is it that you want?" Robin asked, a smirk on his face awaiting the terms.

"You owe me a date in town tomorrow, and right now you owe me a kiss on the lips." The princess negotiated.

"You drive a hard bargain, but who am I to refuse." The tactician agreed.

"Pucker up." The blue haired rider cheered, claiming her prize.

"Ahem." A voice sounded causing the couple to separate, an embarrassed flush appearing on their faces.

"Shigure! What is it?" Robin asked, recovering as best as he could.

"I was going to ask how close we were to our destination, but it seems as though you are preoccupied." Shigure explained, though he seemed to have a satisfied expression on his face, as if he had been watching the whole thing.

"Ah sorry, um, Cynthia you said you had some news." The tactician stumbled, looking towards the princess, who was levelling a small glare at the intruder.

"Huh? Oh yeah, we're not that far, just at the top of this hill. But there are some bandits occupying the gate. I think I saw two people heading towards it, but I couldn't quite make them out." Cynthia explained.

"Whoever they are, they are going to get themselves killed. I'll inform the Shepherds you both get ready." Robin advised as he took off running.

Watching after his retreating form, Cynthia sighed while returning to glare at her fellow blunette. "I don't like you." She announced, as she started mounting on top of Rose.

"I merely observed that you had some information, and yet you had gotten not just yourself but our leader distracted. If this were a real battle, that could be extremely troublesome, you wouldn't want to kill your husband on the battlefield. I hope you learn from this." Shigure explained, as he left for his own pegasus.

The words struck a chord within the girl, she hadn't realised it initially, but if that had been in the middle of the battle she could have gotten Robin killed, and possibly herself. What kind of hero killed their allies by doing something so stupid! "He's right. Just gotta control my urges I guess, but can you blame me! I never thought I would get this chance, and now I have it! But still, I just have to learn to keep that stuff off the battlefield." She nodded resolutely before realising what else Shigure had said. "But we're not married yet!" She added taking off, meeting her fellows in the air.

At the top of the hill, as well as exiting the forest, there stood the looming piece of architecture that have survived millennia. The Great Gate.

"Shepherds, be careful there are bandits around. They are most likely using the gate as their base so be careful when inside, you never know when you could be attacked." Robin advised.

"There are some flying units to the side of the gate Robin, how should we deal with them?" Cherche asked from atop Minerva, Vaike behind her. Gerome next to her with Owain on his back.

"You and Gerome go to the right, Maribelle and Gaius join them, the rest of us will go to the left, when both are dealt with we'll meet in the centre and slowly advance through the Gate, everyone ready?" The tactician announced meeting several cries of agreement. "Let's go!" He announced as Cynthia descended towards him to allow the white haired man to join her. But just as he was about to mount the pegasus, Olivia noticed something in the distance.

"There are some people there, we should try and get them to help." She suggested.

"Alright, we'll talk to them. Shigure, would you mind joining us down here?" Robin asked.

"Yes, Sir Robin." The blue haired rider replied.

As they made their way towards the pair, they seemed to be in some sort of quarrel, what they were arguing about they couldn't understand, something about tea. Yet as they got closer, it seemed as though some of the group seemed to recognise who they were.

"Inigo!" "Soleil!" Where the cries of Brady, Cynthia and Shigure, which seemed to gather the attention of both of the arguing mercenary's.

"Brady and the lovely Cynthia, it's a pleasure to see you again." Inigo smiled as the pair, with Robin, came towards them.

"May wanna stop with the flirting bud, I've never seen boss glare that hard before." Brady advised, as Inigo seemed to realise that there was another person with them.

"Inigo, I take it?" Robin asked, levelling a rather harsh glare at the white haired man.

"Oh stop, you're embarrassing me." The mercenary replied. "No, I mean it this is really embarrassing." Inigo added, unable to continue meeting eye contact. Then a crow landed on his shoulder. "Umbra?"

"You know the name of one of my crows?" Henry asked, appearing behind the mercenary, his face neutral.

"Gah! I…guessed?" Inigo answered, unconvincingly.

"They only respond to my blood." Henry started. "Which means that you have my blood." He added, as a large smile appeared on his face. "Can I have some of it back?"

"Henry! That is not how we talk to people." Olivia spoke up…with a surprising amount of force.

"Awww, I just wanted some of my son's blood, what's wrong with that." The dark mage replied with a grin.

"S-son?" Olivia staggered, before looking at the mercenary. "A-are you really?"

"Y-yes, I knew my mother was a dancer so I've been searching for. Not the worst job in the world honestly. I have your ring too if you need any more proof." The mercenary answered, producing the piece of jewellery.

As this was going on, Shigure had started moving towards his sister.

"Huh, Shiggy? What are you doing here?" The blue haired girl asked, only to receive a harsh glare from her twin.

"I could be asking you the same thing." Shigure replied as he dismounted from his pegasus. Walking the rest of the way, he brought her into a hug. "I'm just glad your safe."

"As if anyone could take me down." Soleil replied with a grin, before noticing the pink haired dancer. "And just who is this cutie?!" She asked, running towards Olivia and asking her hands between her own, taking her by surprise as Inigo levelled a glare at Soleil.

"Ummm, h-hello?" The dancer replied bashfully.

"Awww, you're just only getting cuter. You're going to make me blush." The blue haired girl replied, starting to feel faint.

"Ahem, Soleil, is it?" Robin asked getting the young mercenary's attention.

"It's what my parents named me, who's asking?" She answered with a question of her own.

"My name is Robin, the tactician for the Shepherds. I understand you are Shigure's younger sister." He responded.

"Twin sister. And yeah, I've heard of you before, pretty famous I bet." Soleil smirked.

"I wouldn't call myself that." Robin replied, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"You're a hero of course you should be famous." Cynthia spoke up. "Heck if you weren't none of us would probably be here!"

"While I'm thankful for the praise Cynthia, I don't think I should be that celebrated. Chrom does all the leading, I just plan things." The tactician responded, waving off the praise.

"And he wouldn't be able to lead without you." The princess argued.

"And who are you cutie? I like the pigtails, it just brings out the adorableness." Soleil asked.

"Ummm, are you…flirting with me?" Cynthia asked, raising a brow.

"We could go out for tea if you want." The blue haired girl added, her face turning red. "It's a really good icebreaker."

"Maybe another time…I have a date tomorrow." The princess replied, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Ooooh, who's the lucky guy, or gal?" Soleil asked.

"Guy, and it's Robin here." Cynthia answered.

"Ahhh, fate is cruel, another lovely girl has been taken from me, though my congratulations Cynthia, I know how much you used to pine over him." Inigo spoke up.

"Wait, Robin and Cynthia?" Soleil mumbled to herself, before seemingly coming to a realisation, however before she could say anything Shigure covered her mouth with his hand.

"I believe we should continue on with the battle. There is much work to be done, and I need to thank you Robin for helping me find my sister." The sky knight spoke up, reminding everyone that they were on a battlefield.

"Yes, you are right. And it was not a problem Shigure, I may not know what it means to have a sibling, but I know how painful it is to lose one." The tactician replied. "Alright Shepherds, battle stations."

"Right!" Was the resounding cry.

* * *

The battle wasn't very long, however navigating through the gate had been difficult, but the enemy had been soundly defeated. The enemy commander had been a devout follower of the Grimleal, however, and his ramblings had left some of the children rattled, bringing back memories of their apocalyptic future. They had been thanked by a neighbouring town, and Inigo and Soleil had been praised endlessly by various maidens, being given gifts.

"Ah tea time, a most wondrous time of the day." Inigo smiled ready to settle down.

"For once, I agree with you." Soleil added.

"Inigo, Soleil, we're leaving." Robin announced.

"But, tea time!" The white haired mercenary urged.

"If you want to be left behind, that's fine, but I wouldn't recommend it." The tactician informed, leaving the duo to moan and groan but relenting and followed behind him.

With the flirtatious duo now following behind them, Robin now had another thing on his mind. Cynthia had been left shaking after the battle had ended, buried memories resurfacing. The urge to comfort her sounded within as they started setting up camp. Resolving himself, he went towards the young princess's tent, and was surprised at the sounds he heard coming from inside.

"Cynthia? Are you okay?" He asked.

"R-Robin?" The blue haired girl replied. "Ummm, c-come in." She added.

Entering, the place was a bit of a mess, which was a bit of a surprise to him considering it had just been set up. But sitting on the edge of her bed, Cynthia had her head hung, not meeting the tactician in the face.

"Cynthia? What's wrong?" Robin asked, with a bit more urgency this time.

Lifting her head, the girl's face was red and wet. Tears were streaming down her normally vibrant face. Her eyes that were normally full of life, looked dull, bright red and puffy, signs that she had been at this for a while.

"Gods." The tactician whispered. "Was it what that man said…about Grima."

A nod.

Doing what first came to him, he sat down next to the princess and put his arms around her. Cynthia reacted immediately and buried her face into his chest.

"It's not fair." She cried, letting loose years of pent up tears. "Ho-how could a man w-willingly follow something that evil."

"I don't know, but he's gone now." Robin replied, rubbing her back. "I already told you, I promise Grima won't come back."

"I know…I believe you." Cynthia responded.

"Are you feeling any better?" He asked.

"A little." She replied.

"I'm glad I could help; how little it might have been. If you need anything just ask, you know where I am." Robin smiled at her, but as he tried to stand her grip only hardened.

"No…don't go." The blue haired girl asked, vulnerably.

"Cynthia?" He asked.

"Can…can you stay with me tonight…I'm scared, I don't want to be alone." Was her answer.

Robin had never seen the bubbly princess this frightened, as if he would disappear into the wind if she let go. Right now, she needed him, more than ever.

"Okay, just remember I'm here." He agreed, sitting back down.

"Thank you." She smiled, a little cracked, before digging her face back into his chest.

"Just let it out." He advised, rubbing her back again.

It wasn't long before he realised her breathing had slowed, signifying she had fallen asleep on him. Sighing, he tried his best not wake her as he took her in his arms. Trying his best to pull back the covers with his feet, he lay her down before debating heavily with himself. Relenting, he pulled of his cloak and placed it on a nearby chair, before climbing into the bed with the pegasus knight.

The reaction was instant, the asleep girl gripped onto him as if he were a lifeline. Realising he had no other choice, he covered the candles as they faded out leaving them in darkness. Laying down, he started close his eyes, but the mumblings of the princess kept him awake a moment more.

"…love you…Robin." The unconscious girl murmured.

Touched, and a little embarrassed, the tactician replied. "I love you too, Cynthia." Before he kissed her forehead, her grip on him tightening.

The white haired man closed his eyes, as he drifted into nothingness. In his dreams he couldn't help but see a blue haired girl with a short cut wearing his cloak.

* * *

 **A/N: Bit of an emotional rollercoaster this one. Severa's reaction was based on what I feel it would have been in this situation, a stranger being close to her parents that she never heard of before, obviously she would be suspicious. But this is also Severa we're talking about, a character who is prone to violent outbursts and would probably react like she did, especially when her whole life was spent watching out for her own skin. Don't forget to leave reviews about your opinion on this.**

 **Now as I said before, new idea's have been circling in my head and I want your guys opinions on these, I'll leave a poll on my account where you guys can answer there. Now:**

 **A RWBY and Fire Emblem crossover: The idea is that Jaune has seven sisters but we know nothing about them, and we've never see them or his parents in the show so far. So what if he's actually Robin's son, and our tactician has seven daughters. Pretty much all but Lucina, with Morgan and Marc both being female in this case.**

 **A Shadows of Valentia story: Pretty much Celica and Alm trade a follower of theirs after Act 2 with their reunion being more civilised, and not as terrible. Tobin for Alm and Mae for Celica trade places so that the other has a way to keep tabs on them and to make sure the other is all right for them. Cannon divergence obviously, possibly with different pairings being the result.**

 **A Fates story: Revelations route, was originally going to be set post chapter 6 but will now be set before with the idea that Male Corrin was ill before the meeting in Cheve and so only Female Corrin (Kamui) went, and so they grew apart** **. Corrin and Kamui's journey through the trials and tribulations of Fates after having chosen different sides, some slight changes here and there with, currently, undecided pairings, not going Gen 2 on this one since I will be keeping the deeprealms out of this one, leave reviews on who you guys want the pairing to be.**

 **Echoes story: What if Heroes had some impact on some of the characters, what if two Heroes from the same dimension had been summoned and fought together and then gone back. How would they react to seeing each other now after having already fought alongside one another? Genny x Alm cannon divergence.**

 **Pick one of these that you want me to try, and I'll see you guys next time.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Here we are at last! The big reveal! How will they react? Read to find out! This took a bit of finagling, not to mention with the new Tempest Trials on Heroes, I already have Tobin...he's meh. Anyway a big shot out to Temporal King for some ideas on how to do this chapter. Also we had Lissa, Frederick and Robin confirmed for Warriors, and Lissa has a giant axe...I dig it.**

 **Now about the poll, I'm getting votes in reviews and I can't tell if they are already voted for or not, so if you've already voted and then vote in the comment's please say so, I don't want to give two votes for one on a story considering one of them has a vote in the comments but none in the poll. Now onto the reviews:**

 **Tychon: I squee to you too sir.**

 **RobbyOnions: I love doing longer chapters so it's kinda nice to see some praise for them. Shorter chapters tend to happen if I'm struggling for ideas.**

 **Epikachu: 4th gen Kana is always fun to see, but probably not in this story.**

 **TheHolyBlade: Which one, there's two on the poll.**

 **LaKingVox: Thank you, I'm kinda surprised how receptive people are of the idea.**

 **Red Qim: Thanks, when I first started writing, I honestly didn't think it would turn out this well. Honestly that scene I had a hard time writing because I've never done something like that before and was kinda scared how people would react to it. Glad to see it turned out as well as it did. You'll just have to wait and see with this chapter.**

 **Justsomeguy: Another vote for RWBY.**

 **Temporal King: Such a large Royal Family this will be. A notch to the Fates story too. The idea's you keep pitching are awesome and give me a secondary look on certain areas of the story, so yeah, I would say they are helping a ton.**

 **That's it for them, but a recommendation this week 'Living Under Their Shadows' by Lamumu, this story is awesome and I highly recommend giving it a read. Now with everything out of the way, on with t** **he chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 9- Reunited at la...who are you?!

"So, when are mom, dad and everyone else gonna get here?" Morgan asked Chrom, they had received word from the Valm group via one of Henry's crows, apparently the creatures could instantly move to the destination of any dark mage, as long as they have a vial of his blood with them, the problem is that it also destroys the vial. Tharja just so happened to have a one and had been woken up in the middle of the night to the sounds of the winged vermin screeching its beak off. Not even Virion was brave enough to approach her that morning.

"So long as they have no trouble, in about a week's time." The Exalt replied, they were currently having a rest day since the previous one had taken a toll on the group both physically and emotionally. "From the looks of things, they've been able to find the majority of your mother's friends."

"Well if we're having a rest day I might as well enjoy it, Ophy's spending time with her mom, and when I mean spending time with her I mean breaking her bank. Me and Nina might just go around town see what we could find." The blue haired girl explained, having taken out a book, it's title being 'Fantasies'.

"Just so long as you don't spy on anyone, I've been receiving reports from the men feeling uneasy in the bathhouse, you wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" Her grandfather asked, giving her a small glare.

"Nope, nadda, nothing. Got no idea what you're talking about Gramps." The blue haired girl replied, not so secretly stuffing the book she had into her pocket.

"Just…please be more discreet about yours and Nina's…interests." Chrom grimaced, he himself had thought that he had been caught in the eyes of some peeping Tom…or peeping Tina in this case.

"Will do, now I have a one o'clock appointment with a certain dragon scion." The apprentice tactician replied.

"It's two in the afternoon." The exalt deadpanned.

"Better late than never." Morgan grinned before disappearing through the tent's door.

The Exalt could only sigh in exasperation.

"If I were Nah, where would I be?" The tactician asked herself aloud.

"Probably hiding from you Morg." A voice from above replied.

"Nina, you know where she is?" Morgan asked her friend, who was currently sitting on a tree branch above her.

"I do, but I don't want to feed your sadism." Nina answered coming down from her perch.

"Oh, come on, I only want to talk to her." The blue haired girl decided to unleash her secret weapon…the puppy dog eyes.

Nina had versed this particular strategy before, the smaller girl had a whittled her defences many a time before, when she had first met Morgan during her early thieving days this was how she had convinced the young outlaw to join her. Even now, after so long together, the sheer cuteness of the act was too much for the purple haired royal and she just couldn't look away.

"Gah, fine. But I'm coming with you to make sure you don't do anything crazy like you always do. And seriously stop being so cute." The outlaw relented.

"Like I said I only wanted to talk to her, and I will never stop being what I am! For I am the avatar of adorableness!" Morgan cried to the heavens.

"I need to stop working into your ego." Nina spoke to herself.

As it turns out, Nah was in her tent packing away her belongings, of which there weren't that many things really. A couple of spare dragonstones in case her's broke, a rare book here and there about manakete biology and history. Other than that, not much else. Seeing as she was already almost done, her thoughts turned towards the young tactician that had…assaulted her when they first met. Yes, she was scared of her, but only in the sense that she didn't want to be attacked again, she was certain her ears were still bruised. Cynthia had asked many a time about trying to ride her into battle or just to simply strike a pose, but Morgan was much too aggressive for her.

"Hey Nah, you still in there?" A voice from outside asked.

"Yes, I am Nina, you can come in if you want." Nah answered. The outlaw accepted the offer and walked inside the temporary living quarters, but following her was the object of her recent thoughts. "Why'd you bring Morgan?" The manakete cried, trying her best to hide behind…anything.

"She strongarmed me, but she said she only wanted to talk, so I'm gonna hold her to that." The outlaw answered.

"Alright, just please don't grab my ears again." The brown haired girl pleaded.

"I won't. This is taking some serious restraint from me just so you know…so..adorable." Morgan stuttered. "Anyway, first I want to apologise about how I first acted, and all other times after that. Nina can tell you how I can get when I see something fluffy or pointy eared."

"It's true, she did the same thing to some of our friends as well as Yarne, poor sod won't even go anywhere near her now." Nina added, remembering how the tanguel cowered whenever he saw the sadistic tactician.

"Apology accepted. Now is that all?" Nah asked.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something." The tactician answered.

"If it's about posing on top of my dragon form then you can forget it." The small girl deadpanned.

"No no, I was gonna ask that after. What I want to know is, what was it like for you to grow up?" Morgan asked.

"That's a…surprisingly deep question coming from you." Nah said, a brow raised. "Well, I never really knew my parents, I was the youngest of us and they died before I could remember them. I didn't know their names or that my mother was a manakete. I ended up in the care of a solider in the army that dad was a friend with, but they didn't care for me. To them I was just an unwelcome guest, eating their hard earned food. Most of my childhood was spent cleaning and being put to work as a household maid, cleaning floors, doing dishes. It wasn't until we were attacked by Risen did they seem to show me an inch of kindness, advising me to run before giving me my mother's ring, my parents name's and my mother's old dragonstone. I had always known I was different, with my longer ears, sense of smell and sharper fangs. But I had never known just what I was. It wasn't until I found Lucina and the others did I truly learn of my origins. It's why I fight, not just for my future but for my friends and the parent's I was never able to meet." The manakete explained.

"Just how bad was your guys' future." Nina wondered aloud, and here she thought her childhood was a mess.

"We were in an apocalypse, the dead roamed the earth and every day was a constant fight for survival. Being a manakete, my daily intake required much more than everyone else, learning what was and wasn't safe to eat became a must for everyone but especially for me. I didn't want everyone to waste extra resources on me so snacking on leaves, berries and even roots was what half of my marching consisted of, it still does now." Nah added.

"Gods." The outlaw whispered, stunned.

"But most of that is over now that I'm here. I mean sure, my mother's far more hyperactive than I was expecting and my father is childish to a fault. But if they were any different they wouldn't be my parents." The brown haired girl smiled.

"That's everything I need, thanks Nah. Now about posing on your dragon form?" Morgan joked, receiving a small glare. "Kidding, kidding. I've already done it before anyway."

"Then why did you ask in the first place?!" Nah cried.

"I wanted to see your reaction." Morgan smiled.

"Sometimes I can't tell if you're a genius or an idiot." The pointy eared girl sighed. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to finish packing."

"Yeah, no problem." The tactician replied. As she guided her still stunned friend from the manakete's tent.

"I heard your mom's future was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad. Makes me appreciate how my parents wanted my safety and put me in that deeprealm. She didn't even get to know her parents, and yet she still loves them to pieces. Yet I blamed my parents for thinking that they didn't want me. Talk about being the worst kid ever." Nina bemoaned.

"But you honestly believed that though, visits from our parents were few and far between. We're also teenager's, rebellion is in our blood." Morgan spoke back.

"I know but…it just makes me feel like a brat knowing there are people who had it far worse than me, yet I'm the one who's complaining." The purple haired girl argued. "And I'm supposed to be a princess."

"I'm supposed to be one too, you don't seem me acting all prissy and 'oh isn't this lovely' followed by a bloody curtsy. Hell no one in either of our families acted like that except your aunt." The tactician added.

"Yeah I guess you're right. Still I think I came out of this with a new appreciation for my parents at least." Nina agreed.

"They're your parent's, you know you love them. You just don't know how to express it that well." Morgan smiled.

"You did this on purpose didn't you." The outlaw grinned, crossing her arms.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that claim." The tactician grinned back.

"You're such a bitch. But you wouldn't be you if you weren't." Nina chuckled, her face softening.

"You know you love me." Morgan smiled. "We've been through thick and thin together. Now we've got another war on horizon. Together to the end?"

"Together forever." Nina agreed, as the two friends wrapped their arms around each other.

"How is it that whenever I see the two of you together, you are always in the other's embrace, you claim the neither of you are lover's yet you act as though you have been apart for a time the stars only know." A familiar airy voice sounded from behind them.

"Damnit Ophelia! Always appearing at the worst of time, are you sure you're not a ninja?" Nina cried as she pulled away from Morgan, much to their mutual annoyance.

"Midori did give me a few pointer's here and there." The dark mage answered looking towards the sky.

"So, you admit it! You are a ninja!" Morgan shouted, pointing at the olive haired girl accusingly.

"Ophelia!" A sharper voice shouted from farther away.

"Yes mother?" The dark mage asked innocently.

In the distance the outlaw and the tactician could see the twintailed mercenary, and winced. The poor girl was shouldering more bags and other carrying inventions all over her body. Book's, trinkets and other things were spewing out of the sides and opening's. It seemed as though Ophelia hadn't just broken both her mother's wallet, but the royal treasury.

"You could at least help our poor old mother carrying your things." Severa pleaded, scratch her wallet, her spine looked as though it was about to break.

"But you are so strong mother, the strongest woman I know. Surely a mere feat such as this is simply child's play for you." Ophelia responded sweetly.

"Well I am pretty strong. Just you wait, I'm gonna get all these things back…hopefully before my back goes." The olive haired mercenary replied cockily, redoubling her efforts.

Morgan and Nina just stare at the dark mage, yes, she always had a small knack for manipulating people. But that was mainly on Soleil and her birth parents. Too see her now, she had the younger version of her mother in the palm of her hand as if she were a shiny rock.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." Morgan said with a slight grimace, she was way too small to deal with that.

"Same here. I didn't get my mother's crazy strength." Nina added.

"Well I'll leave you two alone, I need to convince grandmother to let me store these inside the royal belongings." Ophelia said before bidding her friends farewell.

"Morgan?" The outlaw asked.

"Yeah? The tactician replied.

"That girl is scary." Nina shuddered, watching the dark mage skip away with nary a care in the world.

"Agreed." Morgan responded, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "Let us never speak of this again."

"Yeah." The purple haired girl whispered.

* * *

 _In Chrom's tent_

The Exalt was looking over the recent expenditures for the Shepherds. Normally budgeting was Robin's job, but since he wasn't here, Chrom had to do it and he wasn't going to dump the job onto Morgan, the girl was too young for this, or Frederick, the knight already had enough on his plate already, namely Morgan.

Every Shepherd was given a weekly allowance, this, combined with their own pay from being employed in the service of the halidom, they could use on personal weapons, repairs or recreational activities. Then there was the Shepherds main budget, this was the amount that the militia group collectively owned where they bought weapon and other necessities for the inventory.

Ever since Robin took over the books, not once had they gone in the red, and yet in the last week. Not only had the Shepherds gone into the red, but some of the royal treasury had been expended as well. Now his first thought would be a thief, but there had been no reports of said happenings, he doubted Nina would be brash enough to commit something like that as well, especially with how close she was to Morgan. Which was why Chrom was now banging his head against his desk, wondering just were the extra expenses had come from.

"Milord." The usual voice of Frederick announced.

"Yes, Frederick?" The exalt asked, his forehead now sporting a bright red mark.

"I think I may have found the reason for our recent money woes." The knight answered, beckoning the blue haired man to come with him.

Exiting the tent, in the middle of the camp, lay beaten and broken Severa. She clearly hadn't been attacked, but she was certainly exhausted. Around her, books and trinkets lay sprawled around. Bags and boxes collapsed to the ground. Standing over her, looking a little sheepish was Ophelia, looking on as Lissa worked her magic with her staff.

"I guess I got a little carried away." The dark mage rubbed the back of her head.

"Just what were you thinking buying this much, where were you going to put it all?!" The cleric asked, stupefied.

"In the royal carriage?" Ophelia answered.

"What gave you that idea?" Lissa asked, a brow raised.

"That you would let me if I asked nicely." The olive haired girl replied.

"I think I've learned how to appreciate the smaller things in life now." Severa groaned.

"Ophelia how much did you spend today?" Chrom asked, having walked over.

"Well, I spent all of my money, Mom's money, grandmother's money and a little extra." The dark mage answered.

"Wait you used my money too?!" Lissa cried.

"And grandmother Cordelia's. And grandfather Lon'qu's and grandfather Stahl's." Ophelia listed.

"I thought you were supposed to be the good one." Chrom bemoaned. "Ophelia, you're on probation. You are not allowed any allowance for a month and you are not allowed to use any one else's money either." The exalt reprimanded.

"Yes sir." The olive haired girl sighed, looking down.

"I won't ask you to return what you have bought, but please refrain from spending so much in the future. Though for you Lissa, I'm going to have to refrain from giving you and all the people Ophelia took money from giving money next week. Thankfully we'll be on the sea so it won't matter as much."

"Why do I get punished?" The blonde cleric asked, bewildered.

"Because you didn't curb her habits. This has been going on since we found her." Chrom explained. "Robin's going to have a headache sorting this out. That if he doesn't faint from what's coming." The exalt chuckled.

"Prince Robin of Ylisse, has a nice ring to it don't you think?" Lissa chuckled.

"I will torment him forever with that now." Chrom cackled, punishment was due for his tactician for all the times he teased him about his rank.

* * *

 _In Valm_

Robin shuddered, as if he had been promised much pain and torment in the near future. His morning so far had been similar to the ones past. Except he had woken up in the bed of the princess of Ylisse, and had to refrain himself from having a mini freak out, having never woken up in bed with another woman before. Remembering back to the night before had kept had helped him a little. He was also forced to lay in bed until Cynthia woke up since the pegasus knight had clung to him like a lifeline in the middle of the night. Though he wouldn't lie in saying it wasn't the worst sleep he had, far from. It was probably the best night sleep he could remember.

When Cynthia had first stirred, she had snuggled closer to him before seemingly realising that it wasn't what she normally experienced when waking. As the blue haired girl seemed to realise that Robin was in bed with her, she started blushing heavily. Embarrassed at being in bed with him, and for how she had acted the previous night.

Robin had told her not to worry, saying that it wasn't her fault, before quickly excusing himself to allow her to get ready for the day ahead. Of course, he had run into Gaius who had commented about doing the 'walk of shame', something that the tactician had to argue against for the rest of the morning.

Currently he was with Cynthia on the date he promised her the day before when he felt the cold shiver and had a heavy sense of dread awaiting him in the future.

"You alright Robin?" The princess asked him, she was dressed in the same outfit she had worn for their last date, though this time she had decided to let her hair down rather than styling it in her usual pigtails. The tactician had originally had to do a double take when first seeing her with the different hairdo since it left her looking a lot like her sister.

"Yeah just a cold shiver, nothing important." The tactician answered. They were walking around the village where they had found Inigo and Soleil the previous day. It was weird seeing the son of the timid dancer act like a complete flirt, but according to the mercenary himself he was actually quite shy as well. Apparently Maribelle's Shock Therapy seemed to work on Inigo, turning him from a wall flower of a little boy, into the rampaging flirt they see now.

"That's good, I don't want you coming down with something and me having to take care of you while on the ship home." Cynthia spoke allowed, though really, she wouldn't really mind doing that.

"It would be a long trip back that's for sure, not to mention we wouldn't be there for that long. We'd have a day at most to resupply." Robin added. "Anyway, is there anywhere you would like to go?"

"Ooh let's try another restaurant again. I wonder if they'll have any more of those pizza's again." The princess suggested.

"Your wish is my command princess." The tactician bowed.

"Oh stop." Cynthia blushed. "Now let's get some food into our belly's." She cheered as she started dragging him around.

They did eventually find a restaurant, though they were slightly disappointed it didn't have the same cuisine that the one they had been too near Wyvern Valley had, they were still able to enjoy what they ordered. It was now approaching the night time; the sun had started to set a long time ago and was barely peaking over the horizon.

"So how has your last day in Valm been Cynthia?" Robin asked, they were currently in the middle of the Shepherds encampment. Tomorrow they would be boarding the ship they had originally sailed to Valm on back to Ylisse, the week long trip would be followed with meeting with the rest of the Shepherds.

"It's been a blast, but I can't wait to see father, mother and Lucina again." The blue haired girl smiled.

"Maybe you could finally finish that spear you wanted to make with your mother." The tactician suggested.

"Ooh I could also spend time with father we could practise poses and…and…" Cynthia noted off, before a seeming to come to a realisation.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked, it wasn't like her to suddenly deflate like that.

"There's so much I want to do with them, but I don't know how long I'll be able to have with them." The princess spoke sadly.

"How do you mean?" The tactician asked again, with a brow raised.

"I wouldn't be fair to the me that hasn't been born yet if I stayed around, I couldn't do that too her. She deserves all the love she should get from her parents." Cynthia answered, a small smile on her face. "She shouldn't have to share that love with anyone but this times Lucina."

"I don't think your parents would care about that. They would treat you as their own, and would want you around no matter what." Robin explained. "No doubt they are already planning on changing the Lucina of this time's name, you could all be a family together."

"But what about the people, there is no way they could believe the story of time travel. That we are the children of their rulers and protectors…their heroes." The blue haired girl replied.

"We'll take that leap when we get there, for now they are your parents, and they love you no matter what the future holds." The tactician argued. "They wouldn't want you to go away…I wouldn't."

"Robin…" Cynthia whispered.

"I don't want you to go. Even if I have to do something stupid, I won't let you go." Robin spoke. "If you do leave, then I'll follow. If I have to go to the ends of the realm, to a different dimension or even another time, I'll still follow you." He continued passionately.

The princess was in tears at this point, the man she loved had poured his heart out to her. If this had been a marriage proposal she would have said 'yes' in a heartbeat. "I don't want to go." She whispered, burying her face into his chest. "I don't want to go!" She shouted, much louder than before.

"Shhh. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere." The white haired man whispered to her, rubbing her back.

They stayed like that for a while, as the sun dipped below the visible plain and night fell. When they separated, there were tear stains on Robin's shirt as well as makeup stains from where it had started to run.

"Oops, sorry." Cynthia apologising for the mess on his shirt.

"Just as long as you're feeling better, this can be cleaned." Robin replied.

"Hehe, sorry about getting all out of sorts like that. It's just, Lucina said that it would be best not to stick around after we've stopped Grima, but seeing my parents again is going to make it hard to not want to leave. But now because of you, the Shepherds are your family, and it's not fair to make you leave your family. So, I've made my decision. I'm not leaving at the end of all of this." The princess stated proudly.

"Thank you, Cynthia." The tactician smiled.

With that they bade each other a good night and went to their respective tents. Finding solace in the fact they will secure a better future.

* * *

 _One week later_

"Bubbles…please tell me it will be over soon." Gaius pleaded, before dumping what last he had had of his breakfast into the ocean.

"Boss…I want the ride to stop…" Brady added, not one hundred percent in the right state of mind.

"Honestly, the two of you are just as bad as each other. Sneaking sweets and candy." Maribelle scoffed, dealing with the two men she called her family.

"Not much longer now." Robin spoke.

"LAND HO!" The man in the crow's nest shouted.

"See." The tactician smirked.

"I will kiss the port and never let go." The thief pumped a fist into the air.

"You will do no such thing!" The noble cried, giving him a rather hard thump to the back of the head.

Descending wings drew the white haired man's attention. The two Minerva's landing on the deck took up a lot of room, the large wyvern's not really seeming to mind though.

"Cherche, Gerome. What was it like in the air today?" Robin asked the pair of wyvern riders.

"A little salty for my taste's, but the air has been getting fresher as we have been getting close to land." Gerome answered.

"I must agree. Though it didn't stop Minerva from trying to catch an early meal." Cherche giggled, as the younger Minerva looked down.

"I'm sure she won't have to wait much longer, Port Ferox is within sight and it seems that the Plegians have stayed to their deal." Robin explained, in the distance he could see the many ships King Validar and his advisor, Aversa, had promised. He was going to have to apologise to Gaius later about having to come back to dry land, only to have to set sail again the next.

"I'm not as familiar with your easterly neighbours as the rest of the Shepherds, but I take it that relations since the last war have been rocky?" The rose haired woman asked.

"They have improved, but yes I would still say that. Many noble's in Ylisstol still cry for revenge against Plegia for Emmeryn's death, but an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." The tactician explained.

"That may very well be true Robin." Gerome replied.

"Would you two mind telling the rest of the Shepherds to prepare their things, we should be docking in a few minutes. I'm going to go find Cynthia, I haven't seen her on deck today." Robin asked.

"As you wish Robin." Cherche replied as her son merely grumbled in agreement.

Going below deck, he went to were Cynthia was bunking, the door was closed so to avoid being rude, the tactician knocked on the door.

"Cynthia are you there?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, come in." The princess replied.

Accepting the invitation, the tactician opened the unlocked door. Inside, Cynthia was wringing her hands together and pacing around the room. Her belonging s had already been packed away, so there wasn't anything strewn around.

"Nervous?" He asked.

"A little, I haven't seen my father since I was really young, and mother slightly less so. But I'm excited too. I also get to see Lucy again." Cynthia answered.

"I've not known Lucina that long, from what I've seen she's very much like Chrom." Robin commented.

"Yeah she really is like a chip of the old block. We had to replace so many training dummies cos of her sword training." The princess explained.

"Just like her father." The white haired man chuckled.

"I think I'm more nervous for you though. Dad used to get really overprotective of people. I think he nearly declared war on Regna Ferox when he found out Aunt Lissa was first pregnant. Apparently, uncle Lon'qu had never run so fast." Cynthia laughed, she may not have been around to see it, but she could imagine it slightly. "Not to mention Lucy's really protective of me too."

"So, I won't have just one Pointy Demon Spanker chasing me…I'll have two." Robin grimaced.

"Beware the Pointy Demon Spanker! The best fruit knife around!" The blue haired girl chuckled.

"It would seem that my strategy had worked, are you feeling better?" The white tactician asked.

"Much. Thank you, Robin." Cynthia smiled. "You always know just how to cheer me up."

"I do what I can." Robin smiled, before lurching forward along with the ship, the anchor had been drop. Sadly, this meant that the tactician lost his balance, and ended up falling on top of the blue haired pegasus knight, thankfully the landed on top of the cot. "Oops, sorry." He apologised, as Cynthia's face turn a beat red.

"Yo, Bubbles you and Twinkle Toes about ready to-" As if Naga herself had decided to play a cruel prank on the, Gaius had decided to come check on them. Looking back, the tactician saw the sticky fingered thief in the doorway, at first a stunned expression, which quickly morphed into a wry one. "Ya know, you should really wait till we're off the boat before the two of you want to get frisky."

"Gaius, it's not what it looks like." The tactician pleaded.

"That's what they all say Bubbles, that's what they all say. I'm not the one cleaning the sheet's anyway." The thief laughed.

"Uncle Gaius, really it's just a misunderstanding." Cynthia added, giving him the most innocent look she could muster.

"Fine Twinkle Toes, I'll believe ya, thousands wouldn't. Now can we get on dry land, just being on this thing is making me queasy." Gaius relented, waiting for the two to leave before him, making sure they don't do any funny business.

Quickly moving so that they weren't in the embarrassing situation anymore, they hurried past Gaius and onto the deck, their belongings would be handled by the ship's crew. As they returned to the light of day, the rest of the Shepherds were on the deck as the plank was lowered.

"LAAAAAAAAANNNNNDDDDD!" Gaius screamed as he ran down the gang plank, before proceeding to kiss the brick port.

"He's done it again." Maribelle sighed, following her wayward husband.

"I was honestly expecting it." Robin chuckled.

The rest of the Shepherds were waiting in the port, they seemed extremely giddy for some reason as well, probably cos they hadn't seen each other for a month? Who knows. Currently they were all laughing as the orange haired thief was once again kissing the ground beneath his feet, a dour faced noble racing after him.

"Let's go and catch up with everyone, it's been a long time since we last saw family." Robin smiled.

Walking down the plank walk, the Shepherds that were laughing at Gaius switched their attention to their tactician. As he made his way onto dry land, he was suddenly surrounded by those who were wishing well, which he was extremely confused by. He shot a glare towards Henry and Gaius, while the dark mage just cackled, the thief raised his hands up in the air as a sign of innocence.

"It wasn't me Bubbles, I swear." Gaius said, just as confused as he is.

"There are so many cute girls here…" The familiar voice of the female flirt he had met in the prior week sounded out. Looking towards the blue haired mercenary, he sighed as her face was beat red, a case he had become very familiar with the past week.

"Soleil, please restrain yourself, most people here are either married or engaged." Robin reprimanded, pressing a palm against his face.

"Soleil?" An unfamiliar voice sounded out.

Suddenly rushing past him, an olive green haired girl, which reminded him of Stahl, surged towards the mercenary, pulling her in a vicious hug. She looked as though she was wearing, nothing at all.

"Ophelia! It's so good to see you again." The blue haired girl cheered, tightening the embrace.

"Hey! Don't just run away from me when I'm talking to you!" Another unfamiliar voice rang out.

Once again, another olive green haired girl, this one taller and had twintails, rushed past the Robin, towards the hugging young woman, and started pulling them apart.

"You can do whatever you want, just don't do it in my presence." She reprimanded, keeping the two away from each other.

"Severa?" Cynthia asked, a brow raised at the…strange interaction. The other Shepherds doing their best to keep in their guffaws.

"Oh, look who finally decided to show up, now where is your dork of a cousin? I have a few 'choice' words for him." The olive haired mercenary asked.

"By choice words you mean talking to him, right?" The pegasus knight pleaded.

"I mean shouting in his face and giving him a knuckle sandwich!" Severa shouted.

"Just don't go too hard on him this time, he didn't leave his tent till you coaxed him out of it last time." Cynthia begged.

"No promises." The twintailed girl said walking off, dragging the scantily clad girl away with her, Soleil running after them, a newfound glee on her face.

"I'm guessing you don't know what that was about?" Robin asked.

"Not a clue." The blue haired princess, answered shrugging her shoulders.

"Alright everyone, you've had your fun." The vice of the exalt rang out, causing everyone surrounding them to disperse, revealing the former prince, along with his wife and daughter.

"Chrom, it's been too long." Robin said, giving him a silent thank you.

"Indeed, it has Robin." The blue haired man replied, a smirk on his face.

"What's with that face, you usually don't have a look like that unless someone told you a funny joke." The tactician asked with a brow raised.

"All will be revealed in time, I'm sure you have some stories to tell as well as a goof layout of Valm." Chrom replied brushing it off for now.

"Indeed, also allow me to introduce Princess Cynthia, your youngest daughter." Robin introduced, presenting his arms as if he were a game show host.

"Lucy!" Cynthia cried rushing forward, only to trip over herself after two steps. "Okay, that one stung." She winced out in pain.

"You really are my daughter." Sumia sighed, she had wished her children hadn't picked up her tripping trait.

"Cynthia, you need to be more careful." Lucina reprimanded, helping her sister up. "I'm so glad you're safe." The older girl added, bringing her sister into a hug.

"Lucy." The pegasus knight whispered, returning the embrace.

Separating, Cynthia started glaring at Chrom. The exalt just stared back confused, but Robin started giggling knowing what Cynthia wanted him to call her.

"Chrom, you need to call her your Pega-Pony-Princess." The tactician cackled.

"I'm sorry, what?" Chrom asked, brow raised in shock.

"If you're my real father you would call me that." Cynthia stated. "I've already had to deal with one imposter."

"Imposter?" The exalt asked again.

"Long story, I'll tell you later, but I would do as she says." Robin laughed, he'd been waiting a month for this.

"It's good to see you my…Pega-Pony-Princess." Chrom cringed out, another thing he would have to get used to.

"It's great to see you too father." The blue haired pegasus knight celebrated, hugging her father.

"Awww. You look adorable together." Sumia cooed, wishing she had a snapshot tome.

"Anyway, we should probably go over my notes from Valm, I have supply routes, and other information." Robin suggested.

"Yes, we need to all go to my tent, we'll discuss it there. Frederick's already there." Chrom explained, feeling a little sorry for the knight.

Making their way towards the royal tent, Cynthia couldn't help but notice that her sister was glaring dagger's into the back of Robin's head. But it wasn't the glare of someone would give if they felt they had been slighted, instead it was the overprotective look she'd seen one too many times, whether it had been Inigo's harmless flirting or of another stuffy noble's attempts at courting the young pegasus knight when they were younger. If looks could kill, Robin would be a red smear on the floor.

As they neared the tent, Frederick seemed to be looking outside with a worried glance, he had been expecting some more arrival's but they hadn't turned up yet.

"Milord, do you know where Lady Oph-" The knight started catching sight of the exalt, only to stop himself when Chrom put his finger to his lips and pointed towards the tactician to his left. "Forgive me, milord. I almost spoke out of line."

"No need to apologise Frederick." Chrom forgave. "Now let's go inside we have some things to discuss."

"At once, milords." Frederick agreed, holding open the tent flap. Robin found it strange that he said the plural, but ignored it for now.

"About time you showed up." Lissa glared, beside her was Lon'qu as well as Cordelia and Stahl strangely.

"I'm sorry, but I thought it would be best to meet up with Robin first." Chrom explained.

"So, this is my new niece." The cleric wondered aloud, walking towards the pegasus knight.

"It's nice to see you again aunt Lissa." Cynthia smiled.

"What's my kid like in the future?" The blonde princess asked.

"Owain's cool, in that 'I don't care what other people think', kind of way." The blue haired girl answered.

"Now that that's out of the way, is there anything else you would like to say Robin, also, Lon'qu…hide." Chrom threatened, as the swordsman fled from the tent like a speeding arrow. He wasn't seen again the whole day.

"Well we have been able to find children for your sister and her husband, Maribelle and Gaius. Cherche and Vaike as well as Olivia and Henry." Robin listed off. "Owain, Brady, Gerome and Inigo. We also met with some other travellers by the names of Shigure and Soleil and I think they would be a good fit for the Shepherds. I don't know where Shigure is right now, but Soleil ran off with this Ophelia girl I've never seen before." The tactician added.

"Is that all?" Chrom asked, barely restraining a smirk.

"Ummm…" Robin hesitated, he wasn't sure whether or not to say it right now. He quickly stole a glance at Cynthia, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Phew, made it. I thought I was gonna miss it." An unfamiliar voice said from outside the tent.

"Maybe next time you shouldn't forget your book, seriously, why even put it down in the first place?" A second voice asked.

"Well you see Nina, I prefer writing on a desk, it keeps my writing neater so I can actually read it later." The first replied.

"Morgan…your writing is illegible even when on a desk." The second deadpanned.

"Let's just go in. I don't think anyone's in there." The first said, ignoring the last comment, and opening the tent flap.

Looking behind him, in walked two girls. The first had purple hair braided in to two twintails, wearing a blue dress with a red cape, on her hip was a key chain with various different instruments on it.

But it was the other girl that really drew his attention, she had dark blue haired similar to half of the tent, cut to just below her neck line. Her eyes were familiar too, filled with childish innocence but also full of mirth. But it was the cloak she was wearing that sent alarms bells running through his head, it was HIS cloak. The article of clothing that was synonymous with him, there was never a day where he had not worn it.

"Morgan…I think we're late." The purple haired girl said, nonchalantly.

"Ya think." The blue haired girl, known as Morgan, deadpanned.

"Chrom…what's going on?" Robin asked, it was getting much too weird for him.

The exalt sighed, once he hadn't seen them in his tent, he was hoping the two girls wouldn't walk in on them. Low and behold they have and now he's stuck with having to tell Robin.

"Robin…this is Morgan…your daughter." Chrom stated. "As well as my granddaughter."

"Yousaywha?" The tactician blinked, stupefied. Looking behind him again, he could see the similarities for both him and Cynthia. The blue haired pegasus knight next to him looked to be in a weird state of joy and fear. "You're not joking are you."

"I'm not. So 'Prince' Robin, is there anything you wish to say?" The exalt grinned, but it was also slightly maniacal.

Standing from his chair, the tactician walked towards his younger strategist, Cynthia following behind him. He looked down at her, she looked back at him. "What are the advantages of a flying unit on the battlefield?" Robin asked.

"They can help move infantry to higher places or allow archers a higher vantage point to volley from. They also can ferry infantry over river's, forests, and even hills." Morgan answered. "You taught me everything you could, even gave me this." She added, pulling out a book from her pocket. It was old and slightly faded, there were a few dogeared pages as well from past use.

From his own pocket, he pulled out a similar tome, a little newer than the one being presented to him but still faded, and with not as many folded pages. Opening the cover, he was reminded of one of his earlier encounters with Lissa, when she had spilled ink on his book. Luckily none of the overpowering liquid had hit any of the text but there was still the image of what tried to be a man, only if that man had been gutted and had black blood, beneath it was a name, half smirched but still readable… 'Robin'.

Morgan opened her tome as well. Lo and behold, the same image was there, clear as day. Though now beneath where it said his name was a new line of text. 'For Morgan. Your mother and I love you more than you know.'.

"You really are, aren't you?" Cynthia asked, a tear forming in her eye.

"I am...mom." Morgan answered.

The pegasus knight couldn't hold it back anymore, she pulled the small tactician towards her into a tight embrace, sobbing, but they weren't tears of sadness or despair, but rather tears of joy.

"When did you find her?" Robin asked.

"Just after you left. In the Ruins of Time." The exalt answered.

"You knew before we even found Cynthia." The tactician sighed, if he had stayed an extra day, but he supposed it was better this way. "And what about you?" He asked towards the purple haired outlaw.

"I'm Nina, and Morgan's my best friend." She answered, trying her bet not too imagine a love scene between the tactician and the Exalt. Just an inch closer and they could be within range of a kiss…

"Are you okay, your nose is bleeding?" Robin asked with concern.

"Hehehe." Nina giggled slowly, she failed.

"She would get her some help or…" The tactician started, only for Chrom to sigh.

"It's your problem now." Was all the exalt said, he may not be her father, but from the stories Morgan told him, he was like an uncle to the outlaw.

Robin sighed, he didn't know what he was feeling right now. He was happy, yet he was sad too, did Morgan's appearance mean he had failed in his promise? Did he fail as a father? He could see that Cynthia had already grown attached to the young tactician, and honestly, he was too as he felt an odd sense of pride fill him.

"Morgan?" The white haired man asked.

"Yeah dad." The younger girl replied, having a slight escape from her mother's grasp.

"It's good to meet you." He smiled, before feeling as if he had been hit by cannonball. A human sized cannonball.

"Father." Morgan cried, sobbing into his chest, as the older tactician rubbed her head.

"I'm here now." Robin soothed, as Cynthia looked on.

"As touching as this is there is still one more important matter to attend too." Chrom interrupted.

Looking up, Robin saw that both the Exalt and his eldest daughter had their swords drawn, the looks on their faces told him all he needed to know.

"You have ten seconds." Lucina spoke menacingly.

"Guys…we can talk about this." Robin spoke hesitantly, slowly backing away.

"Nine." Chrom replied.

"Ohwelllookatthetimegottarun." The tactician quickly spoke, running out of the tent.

Frederick for once looked conflicted, his task was to protect the royal family. Robin was technically a part of that now, not officially, but still a part of it. He sighed before coming to a decision. He ran out of the tent to chase after Robin.

"Wasn't expecting that." Chrom commented, before feeling a fist impact against his face. "OWWWW! Sumia! WHY?!" He cried, only to find that it wasn't his wife that had done her signature 'slap', but his youngest daughter.

"No one is killing my future husband while I'm around." The blue haired pegasus rider glared.

"Cynthia?! You just hit father?!" Lucina cried, what was she thinking. "What are you thinking?!"

"Taking a page out of mom's book and getting father into sorts." Cynthia replied.

"This is why, my mother is awesome." Morgan cheered.

That was when some more people decided to enter the tent. At first it was Severa, dragging a bruised and battered Owain with her, following closely behind was Ophelia and Soleil, hand in hand.

"He's all yours Lucina." The mercenary said, as she dumped the myrmidon on the floor.

"What in Naga's name did you do to him?" The older princess asked.

"Mother dragged father around town until she found a jewellery store, and forced him to buy her a ring." The dark mage answered.

"Hold, on did you just say what I thought you said?!" Cynthia shouted. "The villain has seduced the hero's ally!"

"Soleil! Where have you been?" Morgan asked.

"That Valm place, ended up getting into a flirt war with this Inigo guy, he looked a lot like dad though. Not to mention that Olivia woman, a real cutey that one, having a carbon copy of my headband." The blue haired mercenary explained.

"Sometimes Soleil, you're a bit of an idiot." Nina groaned, resisting the urge to facepalm.

"Hey!" Soleil complained.

"Don't you listen, you had a flirting contest with your father and you flirted with your grandmother!" Morgan shouted, bowling over with laughter.

"Wait what?" The blue haired mercenary, asked.

"You said it yourself, Inigo looked just like your father." Nina answered.

"Oh…OOOHHH! She's still cute though." Soleil added.

"I am so very confused." Cynthia said, not really able to process what was happening.

"Trust us, it doesn't get much better." Chrom replied, rubbing his jaw, why did his daughter have to hit him so hard. "So, who are you?" The exalt asked the mercenary.

"Name's Soleil. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue. Ladies love it." The girl replied.

"I take it you're another of Morgan's friends." The blue haired man sighed. "Honestly, I'm surprised anyone related to Olivia could be this…sociable."

"How so?" Soleil asked.

"She's as timid as a field mouse." Chrom answered. "And that's on a good day."

"That just makes her even cuter." The blue haired girl squeed, before receiving a bonk to the head. "Ow."

"Cease your pointless prattle. You owe me quite a lot for being missing for so long." Ophelia reprimanded. "Now let us go and buy me things." The dark mage continued dragging Soleil out of the tent with her.

"Wait your still on probation!" Chrom cried after them, only to be ignored by the green haired girl. "Why do I even bother?"

"Can someone tell me what just happened?" Owain asked, from his spot on the ground. As soon as he left the ship he had been assaulted by Severa and dragged all over the port. What little money he had left was spent buying the most expensive ring the green haired mercenary liked. It was surprising to say the least, everyone in the future Shepherds knew that the dorky prince had been rather affectionate of the prickly mercenary since he had first met her as children. But for Severa to do what she did was still somewhat of a shock to him, despite how over the moon he was.

"So, you're Owain?" Lissa asked moving closer to the swordsman.

"Mother! How wondrous it is to see you again, for I, Owain Dark, have crossed time and space to see you again!" The brown haired man announced, in his usual theatrics. "For I am the scion of heroes, their blood flows through my veins."

"You are certainly…colourful." Chrom spoke, now he knows where Ophelia got it from.

"Owain, I have just one thing to say." The blonde cleric said standing in front of her son. "Why did you have to go and make me a grandmother so early! I'm too young for this!" She yellow, pinching at his ear.

"EHHHHHH?!" The yellow clad myrmidon screeched.

"Okay, I will admit. That was actually hilarious." Severa cackled at her…future spouse's reaction.

"What madness had befallen you mother?! I know not of a progeny of my own." Owain cried.

"Who do you think it was that was following us the whole time?" The mercenary asked.

"I thought it was a new member of the army you had befriended!" He argued.

"You two sound like an old married couple." Cynthia giggled, watching as her cousin and friend flush with embarrassment.

"So that's my future son-in-law…I like him." Stahl commented.

"You like everyone though dad." His daughter deadpanned.

"She's got me there." The green clad man chuckled, causing Severa to sigh.

"I will admit, he has left quite the first impression, though do try to be less rough with him in the future dear." Cordelia added with a small smirk.

"Mom!" Severa bemoaned, covering her face with her hands.

"Okay this is getting out of hand, and I should probably go and apologise to Robin. He could be halfway to Ylisstol by now." Chrom spoke up. "We'll speak about this again when we get to Valm, at this rate we're going to need a roll call for just the royal family." He sighed.

"Might be for the best gramps." Morgan grinned.

"With that decided, I think we should let everyone rest, it's been a long trip for everyone and we'll be leaving again in a couple of days." The exalt added. "That's all for today, so everyone go do what you want. I need Robin to sought sort out the books."

"Hey, Morgan? Want to ride with you mom on her pegasus?" Cynthia asked.

"Naga yes! Nina want to come with?" The young tactician grinned.

"I don't want to lose my lunch, I'll just watch." The outlaw replied, having finally recovered from her daze.

"Your loss. Let's go mom." Morgan cheered, dragging Cynthia behind her in search of Rose. Nina sighed as she followed after them, but had a small smile on her face, happy that her friend was happy.

"We have to go sort out a date for you two! Let's go!" Lissa cheered, grabbing a hold of her son's ear again and dragging him out of the tent.

"Mother! That hurts! Why does it hurt more when you're taller?!" Owain complained.

"No need to keep the lady waiting I suppose." Stahl chucked.

"She is right though, from what Ophelia said it seems that we do need to sort a date for the two of you." Cordelia added, following behind the princess.

"Mom! Dad!" Severa complained. "You're so embarrassing!" The mercenary yelled, before reluctantly following her parents.

Chrom sighed, he now had to go and convince Robin he or Lucina weren't going to murder him where he stood, they still need to discuss the Valmese campaign anyway. Though he did feel sorry for him too, the poor tactician would now have to deal with the financial problems the Shepherds were facing because of his great niece.

"I wonder where he ran off too?" The exalt asked himself.

* * *

 _With Robin_

"They'll never find me here." The tactician cackled to himself.

"Ummm, are you okay Robin?" The unmistakable voice of a disembodied person asked.

"I'm perfectly fine Kellam, now just do what do you normally do and keep me hidden." Robin replied.

"Yes, Prince Robin." Kellam sighed.

"I'm not a prince yet!" The white haired man complained. It was karma, he knew it was, for all the time he had teased Chrom, it was now coming back to find him.

* * *

 **A/N: And that's a wrap, I honestly struggled about how to end this chapter,** **there were a couple of things that needed to be addressed and still need too next chapter, but for now we'll end it off with Robin channelling Kellam's invisibility powers. The poll on what story I do next will continue till the end of the month, and for those who don't remember what they are, here's a reminder:**

 **A RWBY and Fire Emblem crossover: The idea is that Jaune has seven sisters but we know nothing about them, and we've never see them or his parents in the show so far. So what if he's actually Robin's son, and our tactician has seven daughters. Pretty much all but Lucina, with Morgan and Marc both being female in this case.**

 **A Shadows of Valentia story: Pretty much Celica and Alm trade a follower of theirs after Act 2 with their reunion being more civilised, and not as terrible. Tobin for Alm and Mae for Celica trade places so that the other has a way to keep tabs on them and to make sure the other is all right for them. Cannon divergence obviously, possibly with different pairings being the result.**

 **A Fates story: Revelations route, was originally going to be set post chapter 6 but will now be set before with the idea that Male Corrin was ill before the meeting in Cheve and so only Female Corrin (Kamui) went, and so they grew apart** **. Corrin and Kamui's journey through the trials and tribulations of Fates after having chosen different sides, some slight changes here and there with, currently, undecided pairings, not going Gen 2 on this one since I will be keeping the deeprealms out of this one, leave reviews on who you guys want the pairing to be.**

 **Echoes story: What if Heroes had some impact on some of the characters, what if two Heroes from the same dimension had been summoned and fought together and then gone back. How would they react to seeing each other now after having already fought alongside one another? Genny x Alm cannon divergence.**

 **Pick one of these that you want me to do. Now for a question this week: Who is your favourite unit to use in Heroes? Pretty simple this one.**

 **And for those who want to know, my ID in Heroes is 5893476266. Don't forget the reviews and your answer's and I'll see you guys next time.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I'm not dead yet. This chapter...THIS CHAPTER! It did not want to be written, and I'm not happy with it either. I'm just glad that it's finally out and I can start this miniature arc that's going on. Now onto the reviews:**

 **Draen: I finally got a +SPD Nino this morning, I wept manly tears. And I had that little bit planned right from the start.**

 **TatsuiChiyo: I keep seeing that little Robin everyday now.**

 **Natzo: You'll just have to find out in the future. Also I like the idea, but I'm afraid it won't work for the direction I was going to take the story.**

 **Redyun: You changed your name I see. We still have a little bit more to come soon too.**

 **TheHolyBlade: I was honestly really surprised that idea got as much love as it did.**

 **LaKingVox: I'll try to pace myself, grammar has never been my strong suit honestly. And yes, I think I'll start taking requests, but only one-shots or two-shots for now.**

 **TheBraveGallade: We still have a little way to go just yet, and Alm x Genny was really popular in the reviews.**

 **JamesBCrazy: Hahaha, my plan worked, Soleil is secretly Fem!Jaune.**

 **SuperVertigoFAN: Thank you sir.**

 **Anyway, that's all done. Now it seems as though a lot of support went into all of the ideas in the poll, and so I've decide that in the future I will do all of them, minus the Trading Places one. As I explained in a 'Princess's Story' (subtle hint, go read it if you like Lissa x Robin), I will be posting the Prologue for the Poll Winner soon, which was the RWBY crossover, but only the Prologue, after talking it over with Temporal King, this guy is an awesome dude by the way, I've decided to only work on five stories at a time, as soon as I'm finished with this one, I'll start work on that. And my answer to the last question was, Hana, My little Nuke. Now on with the chapter:**

* * *

Chapter 10- A Bump in the Road

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE FUNDS ARE ALMOST GONE?!" The piercing cry of a white haired tactician. Robin had finally been found when the roll call for dinner had occurred, not realising that his…lookout…had vanished the black cloaked man was found almost easily. It had taken a little while for Robin not to run away in fear of the dreaded Falchion, but Chrom was able to calm him down soon enough for the two to enjoy their meals. That was until now when Chrom had invited the white haired man to his tent to discuss important matters.

"There is an explanation for this." The exalt tried to argue.

"I gave you strict guidelines to follow to make sure that this wouldn't happen, and it should never have happened!" Robin shouted, how were they supposed to run a war campaign without money. Even with Plegia fully funding, the Shepherds had somehow spent most of their budget in less than a week! How was this even a thing?!

"Let's just say it involves my grandniece." Chrom started.

"The Ophelia girl? How could she have done this? She's not a thief, is she?!" The tactician questioned, screeching out them one after another.

"Robin will you please calm down!" The exalt shouted.

"Calm down. CALM DOWN! We are about to enter a WAR, Chrom! A WAR! A war requires money for food, resources, WEAPONS! Without money, we can't afford any of that, and I know that you would rather not want to negotiate with Plegia for additional funding, what they are already giving us is more than generous enough." Robin explained. "I'm sorry, but these are fact's Chrom. And whether intentional or not, that girl has jeopardised the entire campaign."

"For Naga's sake Robin, I know this. We need to sort this stuff out, but I don't know how, I don't even know how Ophelia was even able to spend that much but she did. What would you say is the best way to handle this?" The blue haired man argued.

"Well first off we are going to have to delay our departure date. No funds mean's no campaign I'm afraid, at this rate the Valmese will definitely know that something has gone awry. As much as I hate to admit it, everyone in the Shepherds needs to receive a paycut, I heard that you prohibited at least six Shepherds this past week but I'm afraid that isn't enough to fix the deficit." The tactician delivered.

"What's this about a money troubles?" A booming voice sounded, as two new figures walked into the tent.

"Surely the treasure found in the Ruins of Time would have lasted longer than this." A second voice added.

"Khan Basilio and Khan Flavia. We weren't expecting you until tomorrow." Chrom replied, a little surprised.

"It's the oaf's fault, kept going on and on about a good fight with our foreign friends." Flavia chuckled, pointing her thumb towards the large Feroxian man.

"What can I say, it's been two years since I've had to stretch myself." Basilio bellowed. "And welcome back Robin, I take your mission to Valm was successful?"

"It certainly was Khan Basilio. We have been able to find out where the main supply lines are, the most important strongholds and even found a little information about a supposed resistance." Robin explained. "Though I was surprised to find that not only has Chrom been busy in Ylisse as well, but almost all of our funds have been depleted." The tactician added, sending a harsh glare at the Exalt.

"It wasn't my fault!" The blue haired man cried.

"Then who's to blame? I doubt the Shepherds would let a thief get into their vaults." Flavia asked with a brow raised.

"My grandniece." Chrom answered.

"What did you say boy? Cos, it sounded like you said you had a grandniece?" The West Khan asked incredulously.

"Yes, I have a grandniece. Ophelia is her name, and she's a manipulative minx if I've ever seen one." The lord replied.

"Chrom…bwahahaha, oh that's a good one." Flavia bellowed in a way that was very reminiscent of her insignificant other.

The Khan was soon surprised as a young girl with green hair walked inside the tent, wearing barely anything at all, and approached the seated Exalt.

"Granduncle? I require more funds." The girl asked.

"Ophelia, you're still on probation, you aren't allowed any more money." Chrom replied.

"But I saw the most wondrous tome in a store, it would mean the world to me if I could buy it." Ophelia replied, doing her best to look as adorable as possible.

Robin could see his friend's resolve fading fast, the dark mage knew her strengths and Chrom was always a sucker for his younger sister's antics, it would only be right that her granddaughter had picked up the same trait.

"Ahem, Ophelia?" Robin asked, clearing his throat to get her attention.

"Who dares interrupt the chosen heroine…UNCLE ROBIN?!" The dark mage snarled, before seeming to realise who was talking to her, her normally airy speech dropping completely. "I wasn't trying anything I swear, I'll just be going now…" She added, before rushing out of the tent much quicker than she came in.

"That…just happened." The tactician commented, unprepared for that.

"Now I'm beginning to wish I hadn't sent you away." Chrom chuckled, no one else had been able to deal with Ophelia like that.

"I thought you were joking Chrom." Flavia admitted, still a bit shocked.

"I've grown used to it, which was something I wasn't expecting to say so soon." The Exalt replied.

"Hang on…do you guys here that?" Robin asked, causing everyone else to go quiet and listen.

Sure enough, there was the sound of scratching paper, the noise you would hear as quill met parchment. Unsure where it was coming from, the tactician moved around the tent till his eyes settled on a barrel he was certain wasn't there before. Moving towards it he raised the lid of barrel, and inside he was met with a person, muttering to themselves.

"And then Robin would ask Chrom to 'stab' him with his Falchion…hehehe." A purple haired outlaw spoke to herself not realising she had been discovered.

"Urghhh, Nina? What are you doing?" Robin asked, feeling very uncomfortable after what he had just heard.

"Muh?" The thief stuttered. "Robin? Ummm, it's…exactly what it looks like." She grinned sheepishly.

"I'm going to try and forget what I just heard, so long as you leave." The white haired man sighed as he put his hand to his face.

Raising out of the barrel, the purple haired girl was met with the faces of two very shocked Khans.

"Uh…hi." Nina waved, never having met the two individuals she was now facing.

"Girl, what in Naga's name were you doing in there?" Basillio asked, his brow raised.

"Nina, what did I tell you about spying on people for your perverted novels?" Chrom reprimanded.

"I plead for freedom of speech." The outlaw said.

"Just…don't let it happen again." The blue haired man sighed, as Nina ran out of the tent, book and quill in hand.

"Whose kid was that?" Flavia asked.

"That's a friend of Ophelia's, she's a talented thief, but she has a tendency to do what you just witnessed. She isn't related to anyone in the Shepherds." Chrom answered. "And don't worry, we know it wasn't her who took any money."

"All the couple's in the Shepherds have a child. Though some of them seem to have grandchildren as well." Robin explained.

"Though I will admit Flavia, the Ruins of Time held another surprise for us inside." The exalt added.

"And what was that?" The East Khan asked.

"Yo Gramps. You busy in there, I can't find father anywhere." A familiar voice sounded from outside the tent.

"Morgan don't you think that your grandfather has better things to do?" Another person said.

"I'm his cute granddaughter, Shiggy. He'll always make time for me." Morgan replied.

"Your optimism surprises me to this day." The second voice replied. "And my name is Shigure, not 'Shiggy'."

"Oh, you know you love it." The tactician chuckled.

"I'm in Morgan, you can come in if you want." Chrom announced.

The tent door opened again, and a small dark blue haired girl with a familiar tactician's cloak along with a light blue haired man following behind her.

"See, I told yah." Morgan grinned.

"Chrom…Robin…what in Naga's name is happening?!" Flavia shouted, this was getting out of hand.

"Flavia, Basillio. This is my granddaughter, Morgan." The Exalt introduced.

"I could have guessed that Chrom, but why does she look like a miniature Robin?" The East Khan asked.

"It's beacuse he's my dad." Morgan smiled 'innocently'.

Silence reigned, Chrom sighed without making a noise, Robin looked on sheepishly, Morgan just smiled innocently taking in the discord, Shigure just put his palm to his face and the Khan's looked on in shock.

Until a loud a bellow of rumbustious laughter resounded in the tent.

"Well I'll be damned!" The West Kham bellowed. "Never did I think that this would be the way that you two would become related!"

"Khan Basillio?" Robin asked his brow raising.

"You boys have been closer than brothers for all the time I've known you, though I didn't think little Lucina would've been the one to bring you together as a real family." The large man replied.

"Actually, Khan Basillio..." Chrom began.

"Hmm, spit it out boy." The bald man encouraged.

"Lucina's my aunt, she's too boring to be my mother." Morgan answered for her grandfather.

"So, you had another daughter Chrom? Well I'll be." Basillio commented, shaking his head with a chuckle.

"Ahem." Shigure coughed, trying to get everyone back in topic. "Sir Chrom, what my friend was originally going to ask is whether you have seen any of our friends around? Your eldest daughter wished to hold a meeting to clear up some things." The blue haired man explained.

"Ugggh, you're such a buzzkill Shiggy." Morgan glared at the taller blunette.

"Apologies Morgan, but I believe your aunt wanted to speak to us as soon as possible." The pegasus knight replied.

"Actually, Ophelia and Nina were just in here." Robin replied, trying to handle the situation.

"Cool, where are they now?" The younger tactician asked.

"Ophelia ran out as she seemed scared by my very presence." The elder strategist answered.

"Ohh, yeah, she would do that actually." Morgan grinned sheepishly. "You were the one who always reprimanded her after all."

"I was?" The white haired man asked.

"And what about Nina?" Shigure asked.

"She was…well I'm not sure what she was doing honestly." Robin answered, not quite sure how to the outlaw's actions, glancing towards the barrel in the corner.

"I can hazard a guess as to what she was doing." The sky knight sighed. "Anyway, thank you for the information, we just need to find our friends."

"Awww, c'mon Shiggy, we can talk to my dad for a bit can't we?" Morgan asked, putting her hands together.

"No." He responded resolutely.

"Pleasssssseeee?" She asked again, pulling out her secret weapon.

"Again, no." Shigure said again, remaining stone faced, before taking a hold of her hood and dragging her behind him as he left the tent. "Apologies for the interruption." He added, turning around to address those present, before continuing on his merry, humming a certain tune.

"Cheater! No one can resist my eyes! I'm calling…" The ranting of the blue haired tactician faded off into the distance.

"Well, that's over." Chrom spoke up. "Robin, who was that boy with Morgan?"

"That was Shigure, Chrom. I met him along with his sister Soleil over in Valm. We found him alongside Maribelle and Gaius' son, Brady." The tactician responded.

"It's nice to see a calm one among them, they all seem to have a unique quirk too them." Basillio commented. "Though I can't help but feel that boy seemed rather familiar."

"How do you mean?" Robin asked the large man.

"He gave off a calming presence, one I feel as though I know." The West Khan added.

"Well from what I've been told, Shigure, along with Soleil, are Olivia's grandchildren." Chrom answered.

"What?" was Basillio's response.

"Chrom…are you certain?" Robin asked, even her didn't know about that.

"Quite, judging by how Morgan and Nina were talking yesterday I have no doubt about it." The Exalt answered.

"Why do I feel as though we have gone way off topic here?" Flavia spoke up for the first time in a while.

"For once I agree with you." Basillio added.

"Ahem." Robin cleared his throat. "I believe what we were talking about was our new lack of funds."

"Oh…yeah." Chrom winced, knowing that this was mostly his fault.

"I was originally going to suggest a pay cut for every Shepherd, but I fear that will drop morale. Taking from the royal vault will feel as though we are becoming warmongers, even if it is a necessity, I would suggest against it, leaving only the original course of action. I still don't like it thought." Robin explained.

"There was actually something else I wanted to talk to you two nitwits about." Flavia said, catching the Ylissean's attention. "There have been reports of Risen robbing villages over Regna Ferox, which is strange in and of itself, but what's even weirder is that there have been zero reported casualty's."

"Risen that only steal?" Chrom asked, flabbergasted.

"Exactly, we don't know much else about them other than what I've said, but some scouts seem to have found their hideout. They were chased off of the site, but that's about it, as soon as they left a bit of the territory the Risen retreated." The East Khan added.

"I know this may come off as brazen Flavia, but is it possible that you could guide us there to recover any stolen goods?" Robin asked, hoping she would say yes.

"Of course, anything you find belongs to you, consider it our gift during this time, though I recommend we leave tomorrow at dawn, that's when they seem to be the least active." Basillio chimed in.

"Thank you, we're in your debt." Chrom thanked, giving a slight bow.

"Raise your head boy, no need for this. Consider your debt payed when you slay Walhart and his ilk." The West Khan bellowed.

"Then that lobster is as good as cooked. If that is all…" Chrom yawned, running around chasing his white haired friend had tired him out. "I think we could all do with some sleep, I just hope the children don't burn down a tent again."

"THEY DID WHAT?!" Robin yelled.

"Oh boy." The blue haired man sighed, realising that their meeting would last longer now.

* * *

Lucina's, and subsequently Kjelle's, tent was filled to the brim with people. A giant table, that they had 'borrowed' from the mess hall, was almost sticking out of it entirely, barely able to fit inside. On one side sat the children from Lucina's time, barring a few exceptions, awaiting their leader to begin the meeting they had been waiting for, and on the other, sat the children of…the children, along with an ecstatic Cynthia, a grumpy Severa and a wailing Owain who was still gripping his ear in pain.

"Are we all here?" Lucina asked.

"I would say we all are." Her niece spoke up.

"Now to those who haven't been with us until now, I believe it best you be brought up to speed." The future Exalt announced.

"That would be for the best." Gerome agreed.

"Gotta agree with doom and gloom here, I'm completely lost here." Brady spoke up, his hunched posture making it easy to spot him out.

"How about introductions?" Morgan suggested.

"Not a terrible idea." Lucina agreed. "Anyone want to start?"

"Ahh, the spotlight is open, and it is time for the chosen heroine, Ophelia Dusk, to take centre stage." The dark mage began.

"Here we go." Nina grumbled, receiving a glare from her olive haired friend.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted." Ophelia added, returning to her normal speech pattern. "I, Ophelia Dusk, have arrived, come from a world far beyond the realm of this one to save you from your own despair." She finished, leaving a slightly weeping Owain in her wake.

"Anyone know how to translate that?" Brady asked, even more confused, causing the dark mage to fall anime style.

"She said she's happy to be here, and her name is Ophelia and she can't wait to show you what she's really capable of." Nina answered for the priest.

"Thanks, ummm…whoever you are." The orange haired man responded, unsure what to say.

"What I want to know is why she is trying to imitate Owain." Gerome stated.

"Ah, for it is from the blood of the chosen ones, Selena and Odin that I am the progeny of!" Ophelia spoke again.

"Uhhh? Again?" Brady asked once more.

"What she's trying to say, is that she's mine and this dork's kid." Severa answered, pointing towards the still weeping Owain, his pride unknown to them.

"Seriously?" Gerome asked, a brow raised, though unable to be seen underneath his mask.

"Unfortunately." The mercenary sighed.

"Is there any proof for this claim?" Inigo asked, shocked.

"She has my mother's ring." Severa replied. "And show them your arm Ophelia, best to get it over and done with."

"As you wish mother." The green haired mage replied, rolling up her sleeve.

"Holy cow!" Brady exclaimed, unable to believe what was there.

"The brand of the Exalt, there's no mistaking it." The wyvern rider added. "Honestly, I never expected it."

"Ahh, another lovely lady taken." Inigo bemoaned with a smile on his. "I must congratulate you my friend, a stunning beauty like our dear Severa doesn't come around often." The white haired mercenary added.

"Sh-shut up." Severa complained, looking down, her face red.

"She may be cute and all, especially when she's red like that, but nothing will ever top mom, dad." Soleil commented, her brother smacking his hand against his head.

*Thud*

"Dawn Dragon damn it Soleil." Shigure whispered, as Inigo crumpled to the floor.

"What did I do, brother?" The blue haired girl asked, oblivious.

"Are you telling me, that someone not only fell for Inigo's charms, but then married him, and had, not one, but two kids with him?! What kinda loony would do that?!" The orange haired priest shouted, as he moved to check on his unconscious friend.

"While I am annoyed about your insult about my mother, it is correct." Shigure answered. "I should also mention, my name is Shigure."

"What proof do you brats have then?" Kjelle asked.

"Well, dad said that my headband belonged to grandmother and I think Shiggy has dad's ring on him, right?" Soleil replied.

"I do." The sky knight answered, pulling out the object in question from his pocket.

"It's the same." Nah commented, looking upon the ring Shigure held in his hand, having gazed at Inigo's hand.

"W-what's your mother's name?" Noire asked timidly.

"Mom's name is the cutest name ever, it suits her perfectly…" Soleil started.

"Her name is Azura." Her brother finished off, ignoring her glare. "She is a very talented signer, just how father is a talented dancer. Seeing the two perform together…it's as if watching a canvas paint itself." The blue haired boy smiled.

"Two performers working in perfect tandem, it is a sight I wish I could see." Laurent commented.

"Uhhhhh…I dreamt I challenged girl to a flirting contest, then said girl told me she was my daughter." Inigo muttered aloud, coming too.

"Too bad bozo, it weren't a dream." Brady spoke back.

"Father, I apologise for my sister's outburst, she can be socially inept at times." Shigure bowed.

"Way to lay it on thick." Soleil grumbled, crossing her arms.

"This, is going to take some getting used to." The white haired mercenary groaned.

"Who next?" Kjelle asked, she already knew everyone else her so she was hoping it would be over soon, it was too crowded for her too polish her armour.

"Name's Nina, skilled thief, and no relation to anyone in the Shepherds." The purple haired outlaw answered.

"Short and simple, fine by me." Gerome commented. "And you, little blue one, who are you?"

"And why do you have Bosses cloak?" Brady added.

"I must agree with my friends, you are extremely reminiscent of Robin." Inigo said, finishing the triad.

"I'm Morgan, tactician extraordinaire and daughter of the greatest strategist to ever live, as well as part time pegasus rider and apprentice outlaw, and my mother is the most heroic person here." The blue haired tactician answered. "And she's sitting right next to me."

All eyes turned to just who was sitting next to Morgan, the only one who they knew to ride a pegasus who was also female, her blue hair tied into pig tails, and although, usually, wanting to have the limelight on her, this time, Cynthia shied away from the attention, drawing her daughter closer to her.

"She even has the Brand on her arm as well, my father has confirmed it himself." Lucina added.

"Holy Naga." Brady whispered.

"She still scares me." Yarne spoke up, the timid tanguel hiding behind everyone.

"Bunny…" Morgan muttered. "BUNNY!" She cheered, attempting to pounce at the poor boy.

"Down, Morgan, Down." Nina reprimanded, helping Cynthia hold down the hyperactive girl.

"Ahhhh!" The rabbit wearer screamed, hiding behind his own arms.

"Calm down runt." Kjelle glared.

"Morgan, please calm down." Cynthia pleaded, starting to lose grip.

"Okay, mom." The blue haired girl replied, calming down.

"Are we all calm? Can we please continue on?" Lucina asked, feeling a migraine coming on.

"Gotta give you credit Cynthia, no one's really been able to calm her down." Kjelle commented.

"Really? Thanks, I guess." The younger princess smiled bashfully, sitting up straight again.

"Now the main reason why I wanted you all here is to find out where Morgan and her group have come from. Also, it is to erase any fears that any of us have about failure, Morgan has already revealed to me that while she can't answer what happens, but that she can safely say that they aren't from an apocalypse." Lucina revealed.

"Yeah, it does kind make you think we could come from there, but we didn't. But, before we can continue, I'm going to have ask for our parents to leave." Morgan added, standing up from her seat.

"And why should we, what's so important that we leave and not anyone else?" Severa asked with a harsh tone.

"Please mother, it's for the best you aren't here for this." Ophelia pleaded.

"If my daughter asks anything of me, I will agree to it." Owain replied, dragging the mercenary out with him.

"Hey, wait! OWAIN!" The olive haired girl screamed, struggling against her captor.

"Guess I better follow." Inigo sighed out, still a bit dazed, following behind them.

"Do I really have to go?" Cynthia asked, the last of the them.

"Sorry mom, but no spoilers allowed, not even for you." Morgan replied, not really happy about it either.

"Alright." The pegasus knight relented, giving her daughter a quick hug before leaving as well.

"What's so important that they have to leave and not us?" Gerome asked.

"It's because it involves their future. See, we're not from Ylisse." The blue haired tactician answered.

"If you're not from Ylisse, are you from Plegia or Regna Ferox then?" Noire asked.

"Perhaps I should be clearer, we weren't born in this Outrealm to be exact." Morgan replied.

"What?!" Was the collective cry of all the future children, including Lucina.

"No need to be so loud ya know." The blunette cheekily replied.

"Well that was a pretty big info drop you decided to reveal." Nah complained.

"If you weren't born in this Outrealm, where are you from then?" Lucina asked.

"Have you heard of the kingdoms of Hoshido and Nohr?" Nina answered with a question of her own.

"Mother told me, that they were mythical places, one represented the light and the other the dark. Polar opposites, yet so very similar at the same time." Noire explained.

"Well, they're real, so is every realm that may have existed in storybooks. Elibe, Judgrel, Tellius, they all exist in one Outrealm or another. But they weren't the only ones either. There existed a third, the Silent Kingdom." Morgan added.

"Morgan, cease at once, you know what will happen." Shigure growled, he would not let his friend go.

"What does he mean?" Nah asked.

"There was a reason it was known as the Silent Kingdom, if you spoke its name, you would cease to exist, you would disappear entirely the magic of Valla was so overpowering." The blue haired girl answered

"Morgan!" Her friends cried, worry in their voices.

"Don't worry I'm fine, with Anankos dead, I think the curses power has waned." Morgan replied.

"I think you're getting ahead of yourself, who is this Anankos?" Gerome asked.

"Anankos was a dragon god in their Outrealm, he had a lot of control over space and especially water. He was once a normal dragon, but, like all dragons, he eventually fell to madness. Our mother, Azura, was the princess of Valla, but he killed her father and forced her and our grandmother to flee to Nohr, were she married the king, Garon." Shigure answered.

"So, you and Soleil are royalty?" Kjelle said.

"Somewhat, after Anankos' was slain, our mother relinquished the throne to her cousin Corrin." The sky knight answered.

"See, when the big bad dragon fell into his madness, the king sung a song that eventually made Anankos lash out at him, but it was enough to separate the sanity of the dragon into another entity, a human. He was the one who called our parents to that realm." Morgan explained. "When they got there though they were separated, Mom ended up in Hoshido and became the retainer of the youngest Princess, Sakura. While everyone else was in Nohr, they all ended up becoming retainers for the prince and princesses."

"Dad was the retainer of Prince Xander, who would then become king, and I was retainer of his son Siegbert for a time too." Soleil added.

"My glorious father was the retainer for the younger Prince Leo, with his fell hand and aching blood he served the dark prince with all of his power, and my esteemed mother was the aide of the elder Princess, Camilla…she still scares me." Ophelia continued, before trailing off at the end.

"And what about you?" Gerome asked the outlaw. "How do you fit into this grand scheme?"

"My dad worked as the other retainer for Prince Leo, alongside Ophy's father. He's pretty good at getting info out of someone, and is a real piece of work I'll tell ya." Nina answered, a scowl appearing on her face.

"Who's your ma?" Brady asked.

"My mother…is Princess Camilla." The purple haired girl answered.

"Why are all of you royalty, like seriously, it's just weird." Kjelle bemoaned.

"Don't blame us, it just sort of happened." Morgan replied.

"How long where they there though? For you to be your age." Lucina asked, a bit confused.

"Only about three or four years honestly." The blue haired tactician answered.

"But, how?! You're our age almost." Nah asked, confused.

"They had these pocket dimensions, known as Deeprealms, time passed much, much quicker in them to the point that a single week was the equivalent of a year in some cases. Technically I'm the oldest of us in terms of when we were born, but I'm actually the youngest since my Deeprealm didn't pass by as quickly." Morgan explained.

"Why would anyone agree to such a thing? Especially your parents." Lucina asked, not understanding why her friends would do it.

"They didn't have a choice. Unlike Ylisse, which had a royal nursery, Corrin's army were essentially refugees without a safe base of operations, the one they did have was easily invaded by Anankos' forces, it was the only way they could keep us from harm." Shigure explained.

"How awful." Noire commented.

"We each had unique experiences a well. When I felt old enough, I left mine and took command of a mercenary group, though if dad hadn't showed up when he did, I don't think I would be here right now." Soleil added.

"I went in search of a wondrous tome, though it just so happened that bandits in search of rare texts invaded the same day I was there, father also appeared that day and found me my tome Missiletaine." Ophelia explained.

"My tale was more tragic, Anankos' minions invaded my realm and killed everyone there, including my close friends, had they not sent me in search of help I too may not have been here." Shigure explained, a tear falling from his eyes. Soleil putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry to hear that kid." Brady replied, a crestfallen look on his face.

"Mine and Morg's go hand in hand, unlike most of us, I thought my parents left me in my Deeprealm because they didn't want me, few and far between visits didn't help much either. As soon as I became old enough, I escaped and made a bandit group, there was this wicked old geezer who had been stealing from his people and I felt justified to steal it back." Nina started.

"I just ended up wandering out one day on accident, I was reading a book dad gave me and it just happened. I ended up walking into Nina and asked to become a tactician for her." Morgan added

"By ask, she means plead and give me puppy dog eyes. I tried to send her away since she only looked like a little kid, even told her what my goal was and that didn't even deter her." The purple haired outlaw explained.

"Eh, details." The blue haired tactician commented. "The main reason why I wanted to join her was because the idea of stealing from a corrupt old man to give back to the poor really spoke to me, wanting to follow mom into being a hero, I wanted justice for the people he had wronged." The tactician added.

"On the night of the heist, the old geezer hired some help to protect against him, it just so happened he hired our dads." Nina explained. "Similar to how me and Morgan get along so well, my dad and Uncle Robin got along together quite well too."

"Dad wasn't really happy seeing me hang out with a bunch of thieves, so it ended up being the old generation between the new, a heroic battle for the ages…" Morgan exaplained.

"We lost, we got our ass' handed to us. But we at least were able to convince to look into the old man and he was convicted for his crimes." Nina finished.

"Mom wasn't pleased either, thievery wasn't really heroic, even if you feel it's for good." The blue haired girl smiled.

"Thank you, Morgan for that explanation." Lucina said.

"No problem, anything else you wanted to ask about?" Morgan asked.

"Yes, how did you get here?" The future witness replied.

"It was actually Naga, she gave me the option to come back to this time to spend more time with mom and dad, she must have given everyone else the same offer, but I'm not sure about Nina though." The young tactician answered.

"She knew we were friends, and she gave me the choice too, I'm not exactly Princess material and Morgan's my best friend, honestly, after I heard she'd gone I just felt the urge to follow her." The outlaw added.

"One last thing Morgan, how did you recognise my voice when we first met? From what you've said, I shouldn't have been there at all." Lucina asked.

"Well, that's pretty difficult to explain, you did show up, but it wasn't the you that everyone knew, as if you were from an alternate dimension. You ended up having a small army and challenged us to a fight, mom and dad explained everything after that." Morgan explained.

"And I thought time travel was the least of our worries at times." Kjelle commented. "Are we done now? I want to go to sleep and train in the morning."

"I believe so." Lucina agreed, yawning slightly. "If someone can help me return this to the mess hall, we can all rest for the night."

"I'll give you a hand." Gerome said. "I need something to do after all of that."

"Same here." Brady agreed, moving to help.

"I'll leave you to that, night everyone." Morgan spoke up, walking out of the tent, everyone else following behind.

With everyone gone, Lucina and her friends moved the table to the mess tent, but she couldn't help but go over a little detail that Morgan hadn't explained to her.

' _Morgan never explained how Robin got to that other world, just what could that mean?'_ The blue haired princess thought to herself. Before realising another thing. _'And where did Uncle Lon'qu disappear to?'_

* * *

 _Somewhere in Port Ferox_

"I wonder if Chrom has calmed down enough now." The swordsman said to himself, he had paid for a bed and breakfast for the night in fear of his brother-in-law, he would have to apologise to Lissa in the morning.

* * *

 **A/N:Done! Another one down. Holy exposition Batman, but next chapter will be a long battle. I haven't got much to say except sorry about the quality of this chapter honestly, it's very far from my best and I apologise for that. Now don't forget to leave your reviews, they's so good to read your thoughts on them and I'll see you all next time.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: 4 Months. FOUR DAMN MONTHS this took to be written. Boy was this a pain. I lost this chapter 4 times, 4 TIMES. Everytime I started putting work into it my laptop would update when I would put it down, and me being the idiot I am would forget to save it and I would lose nearly two thousand words each go. It really killed my motivation so I apologise for how long. Hopefully the wait will be worth it. Now onto the reviews:**

 **Draen: I never give up. I may be slow to update lately, but I'll keep trying to get these out. The explanation was something I thought was needed because of how strange it was to see another generation appearing before after their own. Remember though that only the future children and Chrom know the full story.**

 **Matt Cyr: Glad to know I can be of service for that. Honestly didn't even know that was a thing at the tine as I've never seen Moana myself as if this update.**

 **Tychon's Outside: Sorry I never mentioned you last time, but I am now. Like I said before, I feel as though this was needed. Moreso to keep Lucina and her group at ease, since they have enough on their plates already. Whether or not it will come back to bite me awaits to be seen.**

 **Temporal King: You've been a big help with all your idea's, so I'm sorry about taking so long with these. Thank you for your continued support through everything.**

 **Now with that out of the way, on with the chapter and I hope you enjoy:**

* * *

Chapter 12- Filling the Vault

Even though he knew he needed to be awake at dawn, Robin still hated being woken up while the sun was still rising. He still didn't know how Frederick and Donnell could do it every day without fail, but for him it was always met with a feeling of crankiness. Maribelle always told him that a lady needed her beauty sleep, but tacticians needed it too damnit.

The banging of a various pots and pans, no doubt an idea from the village boy, was enough to rise anyone but the deepest sleepers. Sadly, for Robin, he was not one of them. He groggily rose from his bed. A disgruntled expression attached to his face. Despite how much the softness of his sheets and pillow called to him, he knew that he needed to arise.

He rarely slept without clothes on, usually dropping on his bed in whatever he was wearing at the time. Who knows if they needed to be called to arms in the middle of the night. Even so, he never slept in his cloak. He always took it off before he slept, making sure to have a spare set of clothes waiting for him when he rose.

Undressing his nightclothes, he deposited them in a nearby basket. He felt a little bit lucky that he wasn't on cleaning duty that day now that all the Shepherds were together again. Robin dressed himself, but he maintained a dour expression. He needed a good cup of Gaius' sweet tea. The overly sugary drink was normally too much for him, but on a morning like this he felt like he needed it.

Exiting his tent, he found that most of the Shepherds had already dressed themselves too. Albeit most of them looked as though they had clothed themselves half asleep, which they technically were. Robin gave himself a small smile knowing he wasn't the only one in his boat.

Finally, the banging stopped, and his ears were given freedom from the ungodly noise. Though it didn't stop the banging he felt inside his head. It felt as if someone was hitting him in the head.

"Dad? Dad? Dad? Dad?" Morgan asked him to try to get his attention.

Oh, that's why. His 'precious' daughter was hitting in the head.

"Morgan. May I ask as to why you are punching me?" The tactician asked his progeny.

"It's always been the easiest way to get your attention." The blue haired girl smiled back at him.

"Remind me to teach you a better way in the future." Robin deadpanned.

"You've been trying too for years." She replied cheekily.

Once more the banging began, but thankfully it was only a single instance of the dreadful sound. Turning to glare at the source he found that the culprit had been Frederick, standing on top of a makeshift platform. The cursed device standing next to him was a golden circular plate hanging from a stand. In his right hand, the great knight held a hammer of sorts. It's head being covered by a white cloth. Robin swore he could see some form of glee in the man's eyes, akin to when he was told that they were in need of a Firestarter.

With everyone's attention having been gotten by the forsaken instrument, the ruling family stepped up to the platform, along with their newest addition joining them. Also joining them were the Feroxi Khan's, more than likely informing the Shepherds of what they were planning for the day.

"Men and Women of the Shepherds. I stand here today to give you an important announcement…" Chrom began, pausing for dramatic effect. "We're broke." He ended bluntly.

Silence reigned. The only sound heard was that of a palm meeting skin as Robin realised that his hand had an important meeting with his face that morning.

"This is why I write your speeches." The white-haired man spoke to himself, slightly muffled by the offending object of his palm.

Then as if it all became apparent what the Exalt had said. The Shepherds all asked the one thing that was shared among their minds.

"WHAT?!"

"We've had some rather…expensive purchases as of late." Chrom admitted sheepishly, scratching around his right eye.

"But the chest was perfectly fine before we left, with much to spare. Just what is it that the Shepherds have purchased?" Maribelle spoke up, voicing what was on everyone's mind.

"I have a list right here." The blue haired lord answered, holding up a large scroll. With a flick of his wrist, it unravelled till it hit the floor of the platform…and then kept going as it rolled. The group parting as it continued its journey, before finally stopping at the feet if a certain yellow clad dark mage.

"Oh my." Ophelia whispered, only now grasping just how much she had spent.

"Naga damnit Ohpy." Morgan spoke aloud, realising that she too had an important meeting between her hand and forehead.

"Because of this, our campaign into Valm will have to be delayed for a short while." Chrom continued. "However, our allies from Regna Ferox have informed me of a strange group of Risen that has been terrorising their territory."

"Strange in what way?" A voice asked.

"Rather than kill. These Risen seem to only care about our material goods." The former prince explained. "Khan Flavia has given us permission to take anything we find as our own. The Feroxi intelligence network has already found their hideout. We'll be leaving within the hour, so we can set off to Valm by tomorrow. Dismissed."

With that, the Shepherds proceeded to dismantle their sleeping arrangements and pack everything away into the convoy. The journey wasn't going to be long, but they wouldn't be able to make it back to the port before nightfall. This meant they would have to camp out in the sheer cold of the Feroxi Wasteland. While it wouldn't have been their first occasion, it certainly wasn't an experience Robin wanted to experience more than he already had.

"Prince Robin." A new voice spoke up as the tactician finished his own packing.

"Frederick. Please don't call me that." The tactician grimaced.

"It is your title, or at least will be in the future milord." The great knight replied.

"Be that as it may, it still makes me uncomfortable." Robin groaned.

"You're just like milord Chrom." Frederick smiled. "But that is not why I'm here. I've come to ask a favour of you."

"And what would that be?" The white-haired man asked.

* * *

"The adventures of Ophelia Dusk continue ever onward. The curse of the undead terrorise the frozen winter land of her fore bearers, and so she journeys towards their hideout to exact to her vengeance."

"Why did I agree to this?" Robin sighed to himself.

The 'favour' that Frederick had asked of him was to be the 'guardian' of the future-future children. By favour he assumed the Great Knight meant endure the torture of babysitting their…unique personalities.

Even though he had spent quite a bit of time around Owain, he still wasn't quite used to his speech mannerisms. Something his daughter also used when speaking, except unlike her father, the dark mage tended to be more volatile to being interrupted. Apparently, she got that from her mother.

"What she means is that she's angry that the Risen have been targeting her grandfathers homeland." A voice beside him commented.

Luckily, he had someone who seemed to share his pain.

"Thank you, Nina." The tactician smiled.

"You need someone to keep you sane." The outlaw replied. "Where's Morg by the way?"

"She wanted to spend more time with her mother, so she and Cynthia are travelling alongside Chrom and Sumia today." Robin answered.

"And you're babysitting us cos old Freddy Bear wants someone to keep an eye on us." Nina smiled.

"In a nutshell." The tactician replied. "Actually, this gives me the time to ask you something while we walk to this Risen hideout."

"Oh, like what?" The purple haired girl asked.

"Like how you met my daughter, and why you decided to come here. As her best friend I feel like I should get to know you since you're more than likely going to be around her a lot." Robin answered.

"Fair enough I suppose." Nina shrugged. "Well as you can tell just by looking at me, I'm a bit of an outlaw."

"You're a thief." The tactician deadpanned.

"OUT-LAW. A thief would mean I keep what I take for my own personal gain." The purple haired girl explained. "I take from those who achieved their wealth and fortune by unsavoury means and give it back to the people that need it."

"Okay, you're an outlaw. But how did my daughter end up becoming friends with you?" Robin asked.

"Got a problem with how I operate?" Nina glared.

"Not at all, one of my best friends if a thief anyway so I'm not one to judge. Though he's put his thief business behind him for now, especially since his wife is studying to become a magistrate once this war is over." The tactician explained.

"Alright. But, yeah, we met before I was gonna raid this old coot's mansion. You see, the guy had earned his wealth from ripping off the people in the village and had robbed them blind. Me and my band of merry men and women were plotting and scouting his area when your daughter came along and, seeing an opportunity to demonstrate her tactical knowhow, pretty much begged me to come along." The outlaw explained.

"But why were both Morgan and you away from your parents?" Robin asked.

"The Deeprealms. Since you guys were at war, you couldn't really raise children, so you dumped us all in pocket dimensions. Problem is that they moved at a faster rate. So, while the army was only taking a few weeks to do some things. For us, it was years." Nina answered. "Even though you visited us nearly every day, for us it seemed like you only came around once a couple of years."

"Nina." Robin began. "I'm sorry."

"W-what? Why are you sorry?" The outlaw asked in surprise.

"It must have been torture for you to go through that. I wouldn't want to put anyone through that. I understand why they did it though. They wanted to keep you all safe and away from any harm." The tactician replied.

"Yeah. It was." The purple haired girl frowned. "For the longest time I thought my parents put me there because didn't want me. I got angry at them. I felt like I had no one but the people who looked after me, and even then, they didn't care for me. So, when I felt I was ready, I just left and formed my band." Nina continued. "It took me forever to forgive them."

"I'm sure they're happy to know that." Robin smiled.

"They where yeah." Nina smiled back. "Thanks Uncle."

"Uncle?" The tactician asked surprised.

"You pretty much were to me." Nina replied. "You somehow even became good friends with my dad."

"What happened next then? After Morgan begged you to come along that is?" Robin asked.

"Well after I caved to her constant asking, she helped organise our raid. Couple of days later we made our move. Problem was the old geezer had hired help since he spotted one of my men during a scouting mission. As if by fate, you and my dad where in charge with the defence." The outlaw continued.

"So, it was a father vs daughter fight." The white-haired man deduced. "I'm guessing we won."

"You destroyed us. My anger got the better of me and tried to go through with the raid, Morgan stayed with me cos she believed in me. I still feel like I failed her by losing." Nina sighed.

"I wouldn't say you failed her." Robin replied, chuckling lightly at the sight of her face. "You kept to your ideals, and she believed in those same ideals. Simply by doing that, you never failed her."

"Not only are you an accomplished strategist, you're damn good therapist." The outlaw chuckled.

"Everyone in the Shepherds has his or her own demons to deal with. Someone needed to be able to keep everyone towards the same goal. We just also had Chrom's charisma and charm to help us." The tactician explained. "So, why did you decide to come here?"

"Morgan's my best friend, wherever she goes, I go. I may have royal blood in my veins, but she does too. One of us was going to have to make a decision if we wanted to stay together, and of the two of us, she's more deserving of being with her family." Nina smiled. "Now you're stuck with me Uncle, so you best get used to it."

"Oh, woe is me, I don't think I can handle it." Robin exclaimed dramatically, receiving a punch to the arm in return. It still earned him a couple of giggles in return.

"Now I know where Morg gets her sadism from." The outlaw giggled.

"Trust me when I say there's a certain pleasure in being able to outwit someone." The tactician chuckled.

"You can say that again." Nina agreed.

As the two descended into a giggle fit over their shared companion, they didn't notice the swooping of wings over-head.

"Sir Robin?" A male voiced asked.

Doing his best to calm down, the white-haired tactician turned to where the voice came from.

"Shigure, any reports?" Robin replied.

"We are nearing our destination. Sir Chrom asked me to come find you to make a plan for the battle." The blue-haired man answered.

"Of course. Mind giving me a lift?" The cloaked man asked.

"Naturally." Shigure smiled, offering a hand to the tactician and helping him on. "You're welcome to join us as well Nina."

"Pass. Human's weren't built to go into the air." The outlaw replied clutching her stomach.

"Motion sickness is a lot more common than you would think." Robin admitted. "Anyway, best not leave the Exalt waiting."

With a swift command to his mount, the singer took off towards Chrom's destination. Having been in conversation with his self-proclaimed niece, Robin hadn't looked at their current destination. In front of him was a large building which, if he was honest with himself, was heavily decrepit. The windows were boarded up and the walls were crumbling away. It was in the middle of no-where so it made sense that no one had find it until recently. Anyone living that is.

Descending and dismounting, the tactician walked towards where his friend was. Chrom was already in conversation with Morgan and his family. However, it seemed strangely heated, the scowl Lissa had on her face was certainly apparent. His daughter especially seemed quite frantic too, if by the way Cynthia was trying to calm her down was anything to go by.

"What's going on?" Robin asked, a bit confused.

"We've got a situation. Some of the Risen snuck passed us and went off with some of our gold on hand. Most of the Shepherds have already reported in about having some of their possessions taken." Chrom explained.

"Morgan what's wrong?" The tactician inquired, kneeling beside her.

"Th-they stole it." She cried, burying her face into her hands.

"Stole it? What did they steal?" Robin asked again. Watching his daughter shed tears, he felt a surge of anger wash over him.

"M-m-my book." Morgan answered. "The book you gave me."

"Chrom." Robin started.

"I understand Robin." His friend replied.

No words needed to be said between the two, this wasn't a battle that needed any proper strategy to it. It was simply to kill all the undead in the building and get back what was stolen from everyone.

"Hey Blue. One of the sneaky beggars tried another pass." Gaius spoke up, coming towards them.

"What happened?" The prince asked.

"We were able to kill it before it took off. Dissolved like any other Risen, but it left behind this." The thief replied, holding out a solid gold bar.

"You understand what this means, don't you Chrom?" Robin smirked.

"If even a dozen of Risen are within that building, we'll be able to keep the war going for months." Chrom smiled.

"Hopefully it doesn't come it that." The tactician frowned.

"I'm certain it won't." The prince agreed. "Shepherds! Pair up and get ready!"

Being met with a resounding cheer, the group partnered up into groups of their families. Larger groups were formed, being able to tackle as many possible Risen as they could.

"You ready to get by Morgan's book Robin?" Cynthia smirked at him. Robin noted there was a noticeable glint in her eye.

"Ready and willing." He replied.

"Don't forget about us either." Nina spoke up, the outlaw having joined them as Chrom gave the command.

"Everyone ready?" Chrom asked. Receiving a cry of approval, the prince kicked in the door of the building and the Shepherds surged inwards.

The inside was surprisingly spacious, as if it had been a storage house before it had become the Risen's den. Across the large room there they stood.

A large assembly of Risen thieves' each having turned towards the sound of the crashing doors. Beyond them, was a literal goldmine.

"Holy crap." Chrom spoke aloud amazed at the sheer amount of gold and other treasures that were stored inside. Only to promptly receive a smack from his wife for his language. "Ow."

"I warned you." Sumia glowered.

"Mom really is just like the stories said." Cynthia commented.

As if realising that they had been stumbled on. The Risen started lining their pockets with as much as they could carry. The problem for them, was that there was only one exit. That was where the Shepherds were standing.

"Some of you stand guard here. Everyone else cut down any that try to get through." Robin ordered.

"CHARGE!" Chrom added.

The Shepherds surged forward.

* * *

Just as Flavia had explained, these Risen definitely weren't fighters. But they were fast, they were very evasive, generally needing quite a few Shepherds to take down only a single Risen. Yet, every kill was rewarding. Whatever was in the corpse' pockets as they faded away was left behind as they faded away into purple mist.

Even with as many as the Risen tried to haul away with them, there was still a very large pile at the end of the hallway. More than likely everything that they had stashed away as soon as they had appeared in that timeline.

As the last Risen was cut down, the jingling of coins and gold tinkled around as a near splashing sound resounded.

"MONEY!" Someone cried from inside the gold pile.

Popping up, the culprit ended up being the very person that got them into this mess in the first place.

"Such wonderous amounts of gems and gold, this great a reward is surely because of the divine presence of Ophelia Dusk." The dark mage monologue as she seemed to backstroke through it.

There were also chests that lined the side of the room, no doubt without any keys for them. Given the command, all those skilled in lockpicking went away to their hearts content unlocking them all.

"Hey Blue, you might wanna check this out." Gaius called over as her looked into the contents of the first chest.

Walking over, Chrom didn't expect what he found.

"That's…Hauteclere!" The prince exclaimed.

"Hauteclere? Like the axe from that was passed down through the rulers of Macedon?" The thief asked is awe.

"The very one." Chrom replied. "If something like that was in here, what else could be found in those chests."

"Way ahead of yah." The orange haired man chuckled moving on to the next chest.

It took a while, but eventually everything was sorted out and stored in the convoy. There was such a surplus in gold that they would be able to have more than enough for the war effort and then some on top of that.

Not to mention all of the weapons from legend they had found. Owain had cried out in joy after having found the original Mysletainn. There was also weapons they hadn't recognised, but there was one that Lucina seemed to remember.

"This lance…I remember something about it." The blue haired princess spoke up.

In her hands was blue lance with gold lining. Its head split into two prongs, golden spike sticking out from the side. Engravings lined the head, an ancient language line before their time.

"Lucina?" Cynthia sked her sister.

"I'm not sure." The future witness started. "I just feel something. Something telling me that I've seen this before."

"Whatever it is, it sure is pretty." The pegasus knight exclaimed. "What's it named?"

"Geirskögul. I remember that." Lucina answered, before putting it into the convoy.

"It might be best to give everyone an opportunity to use each weapon, Chrom. Some of us may be more in tune with others." Robin suggested.

"I was going to suggest the same thing." The former prince smiled. "Anyway, I think there are some things we are going to need to talk about."

"Such as?" The tactician asked.

"Like your inauguration into the Royal Family. You are a prince now after all." Chrom smirked.

"If I recall that makes you my father-in-law, doesn't it?" Robin retaliated.

"Oh gods." The Exalt exclaimed as if only just realising it now.

"I FOUND IT!" Morgan cried, clutching her beloved memento close to her chest.

"Good. A sad Morgan is just sad." Nina commented.

"You think so too?" The sadist asked.

"You know you could at least act humble." The outlaw deadpanned.

"I enjoy the praise too much. It's hard to be humble at all." Morgan grinned.

"Honestly." Nina smiled, knowing she could never change her friend.

Once everything was put away, the Shepherds departed once more back towards Port Ferox.

Tomorrow they would set sail to Valm.

* * *

 **A/N: Not gonna lie. The ending was heavily rushed, wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it.**

 **Next up, we have the important speech. Everyone prepared? I know I am.**

 **Even if you love it or hate it, leave review tellign me what you think and I'll see you guys next time.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Finally back with another chapter. And boy is it a long one. I don't really have much to say here so I'll go into the reviews:**

 **Tychon: Haha, I knew. Yeah it really does suck when your muse doesn't co-operate with you. When I'm in the mood to write it feels like I can't stop, while other times it feels as though I just stare at the screen.**

 **Draen: Yes, yes I did. Thank you for noticing that.**

 **Temporal King: You've been a big help for so long now I can't even begin to start with it. I hope that after the long waits this chapter is too your liking. And the moment you want, I can guarantee it too be next chapter. And thanks for the understanding, it felt like all I could focus on was university with the amount of different stuff they were getting us to do. But that's over for the summer now, so all I need to do is balance my time management.**

 **Ghost Artemis: Thank you for the words. Hopefully the wait for the next chapter won't be too long.**

 **And that's that. We've got E3 this coming week, and maybe finally we'll get some news about FE16. Finger's Crossed.**

 **Now onto the chapter:**

* * *

Chapter 13- Invisible Strings

It was nice being on the open sea once more. The cool sea breeze, the melodic crashing of waves, the…

*Blerrrghh*

The sounds of half of your friends unable to hold onto their lunch.

Robin sighed as he rubbed the back of his forsaken daughter while she leaned over the side of the ship.

"Why does the sea have to be so evil?!" Morgan cried, raising her head as if she were shouting towards the heavens.

"Now you know how it feels all the time you forced me onto a Pegasus." Her friend cackled from beside her. The outlaw was doing her best too look anyway other than the smaller girl, however.

"Yeah, but…shut up." The blue haired tactician tried to argue, failing spectacularly.

The older tactician sighed again. The otherworldly duo had been going like that for the few days they had spent on the ocean. With him being stuck in the middle of the two.

After the Shepherds successful venture in Regna Ferox to acquire more funds for their dwindling savings. They had returned to the port and swiftly set off on their voyage to the eastern continent of Valm.

That day marked the second of their journey across the seas, and throughout it all, Robin was forced to help keep an eye out for those who would be struggling with their sea legs. The tactician had been regretting every second of it.

Unlike before, there were a multiple of ships this time. More than enough to fit every soldier and Shepherd, and so that left some that were designated for only storage. Namely oil.

The Shepherds themselves were split over a few of them. Those who had flying mounts were on one, cavalry was on another and infantry on the ship that also housed the royal family. Those who didn't own a mount but had a loved one that did were stationed with them.

Although there were some exceptions, such as Stahl and Cordelia. The former of which would stay on the ship as his wife, who would ferry him over to the boat that housed his mount at the beginning of the day and then back again at night. The others included the royal family themselves, whose loyal pegasi were treated by them during the day.

That was another reason why Robin was annoyed because his other arm was being occupied rubbing the back of his future father-in-law, who's family were already engaged in other affairs.

"Why do boats have to sway so much, Robin? Surely you know a hex or incantation to cure this?" Chrom asked his friend as he, too, was leaning over the side.

"Unfortunately, not Chrom. Henry and Tharja have been researching but haven't come up with anything yet. Hopefully we don't encounter any Valmese ships." The white-haired man replied.

"It just had to be boats didn't it, gramps." Morgan complained from her place of the railing.

"You said it." The lord agreed.

Robin sighed.

* * *

As if his prayers had been answered, the resident dark mages had been successful in finding a temporary cure for the Shepherds ailments and now everyone was able to participate in training.

Along with gold and other valuables, weapons from ages past had been found among the thieving Risen's storage house. These weapons were not like most, it was almost as if they were alive. They chose their wielder and would only work for that one person.

A sword wouldn't cut, an axe wouldn't chop, and lances would fail to impale something no matter how soft. The bows would be unable to be drawn as if the strings were made of hardened steel and magic tomes would not respond to its wielders calling.

Not many had chosen their new master. But those that had gleefully hacked and slashed away at training dummy's, amazed that such power was in their hands. Those that hadn't would be tested by everyone until they were able too.

It was much harder on the magic users, however. Due to their current circumstances, only wind and dark magic tomes were allowed to be used for training. Fire and Thunder were much too dangerous to be cast on board the ships should an unfortunate incident occur.

Those that had been fortunate to have a weapon choose them were Virion with the legendary Nidhogg bow, Cordelia with the Gáe Bolg spear, Sumia and the Luna lance. The two resident dark mages of Tharja and Henry had claimed dominion over tomes of Gleipnir and Naglfar respectively.

As if the sword had heard his cries, the Mystletainn blade had chosen Owain its new wielder leaving the young swordmaster to cry tears of joy. The masked rider Gerome had been deemed the wielder of the Basilikos while his father now wielded the Hauteclere.

Ricken was chosen by the Forseti wind tome and his son, Laurent, now wielded the legendary Excalibur. The three Regalia of Mercurius, Gradivus and Parthia now belonged to Stahl, Sully and Noire respectively.

Even Robin's own daughter now wielded the Book of Naga, said to have been used by those of Naga's blood since the time of the Holy War. To say she had been ecstatic would have been an understatement to her true reaction.

"Haha, suck it Lord Leo, you're not the only one with a legendary tome now!" The blue haired girl cried to the heavens holding the tome in her hands.

"You've been shouting that every hour, we get it." Nina grumbled from beside her.

"You're just salty I've got an awesome weapon and you don't." Morgan grinned.

"N-no, I'm not. And what does that even mean?!" The outlaw shouted back.

"Though your weapon is certainly majestic, none can be more glorious than the power of my Missiletainn." Ophelia added in her own way.

"I wonder if mine being on fire all the time is just meaning that I'm too hot to handle." Soleil grinned from beside her, gazing curiously at her new weapon with one hand. The other was holding out a carrot, which was rapidly being consumed

"Please no puns, sister." Shigure groaned as he brushed his pegaus. On his back was a weapon that not many in the Shepherds recognised, but he informed people of as a naginata. Though this one the blue haired Pegasus rider wielded was known as the Waterwheel. "And could you please stop feeding Anita. You're going to ruin her dinner." He frowned.

"What? A carrot a day keeps the doctor away." The blue haired girl replied.

"That's apples." Her brother stated.

Robin rolled his eyes as the duo continued squabbling. The twins never seemed to stop having arguments. They were all gathered on the main ship at the moment. It was now the fourth day of their voyage, and Robin was starting to get a little paranoid. His expected deadline for Valmese retaliation had passed and he was certain they would come across them in the day or the next and had called for a strategy meeting.

"Chrom, we should make sure we're prepared for battle." The white-haired man began.

"You're right. I'm still uneasy on my legs, even with that hex. I never fancied myself to be a captain on the sea." The exalt replied.

"In my time, all of the ships were destroyed. Perhaps that is also why I struggle." His daughter added. "Though now given the time, I can say that it would be nice to do this again. It's quite relaxing." She smiled.

"I've been meaning to ask. After you stopped Emm's assassination, why didn't you stay with us?" Chrom asked. Robin smiled, it was good to see his friend having moved on a bit from that event, even if it still hurt him at times.

"I didn't think I could risk altering history any more than I had thought necessary. I sought out to only divert events that could directly lead to Grima's return." The lordling answered. "The assassin's in the castle gardens were among those that were necessary. Had they not been dealt with then my father would have been wounded, and those would have played a major part in the tragedies that would follow."

"What kind of injuries?" Robin couldn't help but ask.

"His sword arm would occasionally have spasms that made it difficult for him to swing his sword, and his side would cause him great pain constantly. But there was also the emotional scaring. Even when I was younger, I could remember times when my father would wake up screaming in the middle of the night. Reliving the events of that faithful day." Lucina explained, her eyes glazing slightly. The tactician couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl and promptly apologised for asking her to relive such painful memories.

"It is alright Robin; those events have passed and will never happen in this time. For that alone I am eternally thankful." The future witness smiled, before quickly morphing into a frown. "But still, the river of time favoured its original course. I only stalled the exalt's death rather than preventing it."

"You did what you could Lucina, and for that we are grateful." Chrom replied sullenly. "Not to mention that you saved me. On two separate occasions in fact."

"You're too kind father." The younger girl smiled. "But nothing is certain and another could take your life."

"…Do you know how I die?" The lord asked, not even sure if he wanted to know.

"Hey! No spoilers!" Morgan shouted standing off to the side. She was quickly ignored.

"Only rumours. They say you fell in a great battle, fighting to alter your destiny. And that you were murdered mere moments before you could, betrayed by someone close and dear to you."

Once she had finished her sentence, Robin felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. His vision blurred, and he swore he could see a battered a broken Chrom before him. A dagger, made of thunder, was jabbed into his gut. The tactician had seen this scene once before. When he had first woken up in that field over two years ago.

"Nngh!" The white-haired man groaned in pain.

"Robin? What's wrong?" Chrom asked him. Lucina staring at him with a pointed glare.

"M-my head. Forgive me. Just a flash of pain. I'm fine now." Robin breathed out, the pain fading as quickly as it came. The future witness still had her eyes on him, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"After your murder and the fell dragon's return. I took the name Marth to fight back and inspire people. I prayed to the Hero-King himself for a small part of the strength he used to the save world so that I may have done the same. But I need that subterfuge no longer. I fight as Lucina now. The name that was given to me by the strongest man and women I know." The blue haired girl delivered.

"A strength shared by the same woman that bears that name." Chrom smiled in pride.

"Milord!" A voice shouted from afar.

In the distance, a trio of Pegasus knights were encroaching on the ships. Some Feroxi men immediately went into action but were quickly halted by the tactician and exalt.

They were getting close when Robin noticed some other blurs behind them. More Pegasus Knights.

But these weren't Ylissean.

"Archers to the stem of the ship! They've been followed!" Robin ordered.

Response was instant. Archers were at the front in moments, the leader if which was the 'Archest of Archer's' himself. Eagerly awaiting to fire from his new bow of legend.

Robin dreaded the tales the flirt would string to a bard when they docked.

Thankfully the response wasn't necessary as the Pegasus knight's followers retreated upon noticing the destination. No doubt going to warn they're own.

"Milord!" Once again came the cry. The head knight, who just so happened to be Cordelia, shouted again as they came in to land. She was flanked by Sumia and Cynthia.

Dismounting as soon as they hit the deck. The trio of flyers rushed towards the exalt, urgency evident in their actions.

"Milord, Valmese ships to the north!" Cordelia announced.

"How far?" Robin asked.

"Less than an hour at our current speed." The red headed genius replied.

"Cordelia, relay that news to Frederick and tell them to get ready. We'll need to ferry them over to this ship. They'll have to fight on foot for this battle. Sumia, I want you to get Khan Basillio and Khan Flavia. We'll need them for a pre-battle plan. I want you, Cynthia, to warn our other flyers and then start helping Cordelia." The tactician explained. "Can you help out when you're done Shigure?"

"Of course, Sir Robin." The prodigal singer answered.

"Good, dismissed." Robin finished

No response was necessary as the trio of knights rushed into action to do what they had been assigned. Shigure finished and joined the other as fast as he could. His timing couldn't be better as the Khans joined them, as well as Frederick.

"Been a good while since the last time I was in a naval battle." Basillio commented as he cracked his neck in preparation.

"Must have been quite long-ago oaf." Flavia replied jokingly.

"Last I recall, you've never even been in one." The West Khan countered.

"Khan Basillio, Khan Flavia." Chrom spoke up to get the quarrelling Khan's attention.

"Chrom. Sumia told us what she and the others saw." Flavia replied. "I must say, it's not good." She added looking at the horizon.

Sure enough, the Valmese ships could now be seen at the edge of their vision. Merely blurs at the current time. But that would not remain. They needed a plan.

"Cordelia has reported the Valmese fleet matches ours, ship for ship." Frederick informed.

"Your tone says that this is not good news." Chrom frowned.

"Their troops vastly outnumber ours. Our vessels are half-full, at the very best. But every Valmese ship is packed stem to stern with soldiers." The great knight responded.

"If we attempted to board them in a straight fight, we'll be slaughtered." The exalt concluded.

"We have little choice but to try anyway. Plegia had no men to spare, but they were generous with other supplies. Including Oil, perhaps a clever tactician may find a use for that." Flavia hinted.

"Of course, I could." Two voices spoke simultaneously. Morgan and Robin grinned towards each other.

"Like father like daughter." Basilio guffawed.

"If we could put their ships to flame, they'd have nowhere to escape to. We could-" The East Khan planned aloud.

"You could roast US all like hams!" The West Khan argued. "Are you truly willing to kill us all, woman?!"

"Dou you have a better idea, oaf?! The problem is that we have no siege weapons." Flavia countered. "We need a way to get lit oil onto their decks without our own ships getting caught in the blaze."

"Unless we want our ships to be caught in the blaze." Robin grinned, his head already ablaze with ideas.

"Set our own ships alight? Why would we…" Basilio tried to argue before sighing, noticing the gleam in the tactician's eye. "Bah, I know better than to question you when you have that look in your eyes. Gods save us from whatever you've cooked up this time. Let's just hope it's not us that gets cooked."

"I have an idea Chrom." The white-haired man announced.

"Then don't just stand there, speak it out." The Exalt smiled,

"But for this to work, we'll need to disrupt their chain of command. Out strongest team needs to infiltrate the lead ship and kill their general. As our best captain I'd have you head the squad, but you are the Exalt, so…" Robin began.

"And as the Exalt, and your future father-in-law, you cannot order me NOT to go. I will lead the assault!" The blue-haired lord announced.

"Alright, _dad_." The cloaked man grinned. "Then this plan truly stands a better chance."

"So much has changed since we found you that day. Hard to believe you determine the fate of our entire army, our entire people! Destiny has a strange way of working." Chrom smiled.

"No, Chrom. Not destiny." Robin stated.

"What?" The Exalt asked, confused.

"We are not pawns of some scripted fate. I believe we are more. Much more." The tactician began.

"How do you mean?" Chrom urged.

"There is something between us all. Something that keeps us together. Like…invisible ties connecting us. Giving us strength, we forged these ties…and we strengthen them. If we preserve them, or if we break them, it will be out choices. Not some 'destiny'." Robin finished.

High pitched screams of utter joy sounded from behind the conversing pair.

Both Morgan, and surprisingly Nina, were gazing at Robin as if they had just witnessed a moment of history. Which for them, they had.

"He said the thing!" The pair smiled oblivious to the stares they were now receiving.

"Ooooookay then." Chrom drawled, before shaking his head and just chalking it up to the girls' quirks. "Robin. I think this salty air might have gone to your head."

"All right, all right. Perhaps that is enough philosophy for one day." Robin chuckled, before donning a more serious face. "But there are still details to discuss."

"Indeed. Preparations are to be made." The exalt smiled. "Oh, and Robin. If we are all bound by these 'invisible ties', I thank the gods that it's with you." Chrom added.

Robin stared, stunned. He wasn't quite sure how to reply to what his dearest friend had told him. Was it just how he said it, or was there a hidden meaning behind it? He couldn't tell right now.

"Now then, everyone! Look lively! We have work to do!" The Exalt commanded.

* * *

The best of the best of the Shepherds were aboard a singular ship. They alone would go out to meet the enemy with a handful of soldiers to handle the ship and set up the plan.

"Their leader will no doubt be on the centremost forward ship. We'll need to be beside them to board them, but no doubt they'll attempt to do the same with us." Robin explained to those gathered. "We need to make sure we control the gangways and should be the ones to put them down."

"What should we do to stop them, Bubbles?" Gaius asked.

"Our ship will position between three of the Valmese ships. Two beside us and one in front. We'll create choke points to keep them back." The tactician replied. "Cherche, Cordelia and Gerome will roam around to prevent any Valmese Pegasus Knights from interfering."

"Frederick and Kjelle will guard the flanks. Gaius, Maribelle, Nina and Morgan will back them up with magic and range power." Chrom added, receiving nods from them.

"The final four of us which consists of myself, Chrom, Lucina and Cynthia, will assault the main ship. Our aim is to take out the enemy commander at which point I'll send out a signal flare. Once that flare goes up, we retreat to our ship to commence the final phase of the plan." Robin continued. "At that point we will ram into their ships with our own."

"Before that, we all abandon ship and let the wind do its job for us. Pegasus Knights are on stand-by to pick us up from when we get off. The signal flare Robin set's off will be the call for them to come to us and get us away from the flames." Chrom finished.

"I have once question, milord." Frederick asked.

"Go ahead." The Exalt replied.

"Are you sure that this is the right decision?" The great knight questioned.

Chrom hesitated. He hadn't even asked himself that question. But now having had it lay before him… he wasn't sure. Was the act burning all of the Valmese ships humane? Were they in the wrong by performing this act? As he pondered this, the man beside him spoke up for him.

"No. It is not." Robin answered. "The Valmese are just like us. Not are they only just men and women following their leader, they are also son's and daughter's. Possibly even mothers and fathers." The tactician sighed. "But this is still war. All of us walk a thin rope before us. Keeping our humanity during times like these is the most difficult action we perform. What we are doing, is not right. Our backs are against the wall, however, and this is the only thing I can think of that would keep our forces safe. I claim not to be a god of life, nor a hand of death. I only wish for the men and women we lead to return home safely. All we can do is mourn for those lost, not doing so would mean sacrificing the humanity we so long cling to."

Silence washed over the present Shepherds. No doubt the final decision would have been hard on the tactician. He was making the choice of giving the enemy no options. Should they succeed, and they no doubt they wouldn't, they would be leaving the Valmese to their deaths.

"I understand." Frederick replied with a small smile.

"Very well." Robin smiled back, knowing he had alleviated his companion's doubts. "Morgan?"

"Yes, father?" The younger tactician asked.

"I've heard good things about your tactical prowess from your grandfather." The white-haired man began, swiftly dodging a swing from Chrom. "You'll in charge of the defence of the ship."

"T-thank you." Morgan beamed in a rare showing of embarrassment.

"We'll be upon the Valmese in mere moments." The blue-haired lord announced. "Everyone. Prepare yourselves."

The wait was tense. They were slowly drifting into position. Feroxi soldiers, who were commanded to retreat inside once the battle began, were mulling having been ordered to drop the gangways.

As soon as they made it in too position, Chrom gave the signal.

"Now." The Exalt commanded, raising the Falchion high. The dull thuds of the thick wooden planks dropping to the deck and finding purchase on the enemy ships. "Shepherds to arms! For Ylisse!"

"For Ylisse!" They roared as they rushed into position.

* * *

"Grrrr!" The great knight growled. He was weapon locked with an enemy General. The thickness of the enemies' armour was to great to allow any of his men to pass beside him as the two officers struggled against each other.

"You doing okay there Frederick?" Came the chipper voice of his temporary authoritative figure.

"This one…is a worthy adversary." The brown-haired man growled out as he tried to find an opening to get the upper hand.

"Need a hand?" Another voice asked.

"If you would be so kind." It may not have been the most honourable victory. But this General was becoming a problem.

"Might want to bring out that gift your dad gave you." The first voice suggested.

"You might be right." The second replied, before the sound of shuffling and weapons being swapped were heard.

"Anytime girls." Frederick growled, he was beginning to think he was losing the battle of strength.

"Hold your horses." The first chuckled. "Oh wait."

He never heard the distinct strum of an arrow being fired. What the great knight certainly didn't expect was an arrow, made not of steel tips and wooden balance, but made of magical energy to shoot past him and to impact his opponent.

The cry of pain as the man was struck was similar to that as if he had been hit by a magic spell. The arrow had already dissipated into the air, but the glaring hole where it had impaled the armour was clear.

Taking the advantage, Frederick overpowered his opponent and knocked him aside. Falling into the ocean below.

Looking over his shoulder as the Valmese soldiers hesitated in fear, he noted that the second girl now wielded a brilliant bow that seemed to pulsate light. The edges of the weapon had stars to act as balancers. It did, in fact, have a string. But it was ethereal and disappeared as soon as the outlaw pulled her hand away.

"Woah." Morgan gasped.

"Yeah. Woah." Nina agreed, not quite sure what she was expecting.

"What kind of bow is that? I have never seen nor heard of it." Frederick asked, still in awe at the weapon.

"I think it's called a Shining Bow. They're supposed to be similar to Levin Sword's in that they channel the wielder's magic to create the projectiles. I've never seen one in action before." The small tactician explained.

"Heh, guess this could be my version of a legendary weapon here." Nina smirked to her friend.

"Yeah yeah, that's pretty impressive." Morgan waved off before whipping out her new tome. "But I still think I can one up ya." She grinned opening the purple and yellow tome.

The Valmese soldiers seemed to have recovered from the daze of watching their ships leader fall so easily. A couple of knights stepped forward to avenge their fallen commander, but they hesitated upon seeing the book in the girl' hand.

"Naga!" Morgan cried unleashing the sacred magic of her new weapon.

In front of Frederick, an ethereal golden dragon appeared in a coiled form. But that didn't last long. As it uncoiled, the serpentine-like figure rose to it's full height. The Valmese soldiers stepped backwards in fear as the dragon towered above them.

It reared its head back, and then it let out its holy breath. The shining light of the attack washed over the entire enemy ship. Only when the dragon stopped, so too did the lives of all of the soldiers.

Frederick turned around, unable to comprehend the sheer power that the smaller girl had within her. He looked at the blue-haired tactician who held a tired smirk upon her face.

She fainted mere seconds later.

"Morgan!" Nina was by her side as she hit the ground.

The great knight joined her after making sure that no Valmese soldiers remained. Holding his fingers just below her chin, he waited for a couple of seconds making sure there was a pulse from the girl.

"She'll be fine." Frederick told the outlaw. "Mana exhaustion. She may be able to wield the tome, but she can't 'use' it properly."

"This is what you get when you try to show off." The purple-haired girl sighed with a smile.

"I'll wave down Cordelia, she'll take her back to the main ship." Frederick explained. "You're welcome to join her."

"Thanks, but I never leave a job half done." Nina replied. "We gotta help the other guys anyway."

"Well said." The great knight grinned. He'd make a retainer out of this girl yet.

* * *

"Hmph. One ship against three of ours. They must have a death wish." A balding man in heavy armour smirked, pleased for an easy win.

"That must be the commander." Cynthia guessed.

"I believe you're right." Robin replied. "We should inform Chrom."

"Right." The Pegasus knight agreed.

The pair were flying above the ship to the right of the Shepherds own vessel. They had been very fortunate that the Valmese had no archers on any of there ships and were planning the best method of attack.

As for Chrom and Lucina, the plank they had was larger than the others and were fighting side by side. The blue haired lords were whittling down the forces of the ship.

"I think this is the first time we've ever fought together now that I think about it Lucina." Chrom informed his eldest daughter.

"Yes, you've always been paired up with mother." The future Exalt replied. "Morgan believed that it would be better to help my friends get better acquainted with there new surroundings as we battled across the continent."

"We've sparred before, but as we fight side by side. I can see just much you took after my sword style." The Exalt smiled.

"Yes. I believe the training dummies agree." Lucina smiled sheepishly. "Mother told me that we've broken more targets in the last month than the Shepherds had in the last two years."

"Frederick still scolds me about that." Chrom agreed.

"And I will too once this is done." A new voice said with an annoyed tone.

Looking up, the royals were met with the sight of a hovering Pegasus. A snickering knight. And a glaring tactician.

"How many times have I told you not to break the training dummies. We waste the Shepherds budget having to buy more." Robin explained annoyed. "But that isn't important right now. We've been able to find the enemy commander."

"Which one is it?" Chrom asked.

"The bald one." Cynthia snickered out.

"Yes. That is a fair assessment." Robin smirked.

"What do you suggest we do?" Lucina asked, with a slight glare.

"Cynthia and I will sweep across the ship with hit and run attacks while I'll use an Arcfire tome to wash them in flames." The tactician informed. "You and Chrom should finish off the weakened forces, princess."

"There's not a moment too lose then." Chrom nodded in agreement of the plan.

With a crack of her reins, the Pegasus knight steered her mount to ready her first run. Her new lance in her left hand. It was the same lance that her sister had put into the wagons after they had raided the Risen storehouse.

Geirskogul.

The spearhead a shining blue with a golden outline. There was triangle shaped hole in the head with a green jewel at the bottom of it. The base of the spearhead jutted out into spikes. It radiated power. The very sight of it seemed to inspire those around it to fight harder.

Unlike most of the other weapons they had looted, the Geirskogul had never appeared in any legends or tales of other realms. It was as if it had appeared out of nowhere and the only person who seemed to have any knowledge of it was Lucina. And even then, her memory of the weapon was faint.

"You ready?" Robin asked her.

"Ready as I'll ever be." The blue-haired rider grinned. Cracking the reins once more, they surged forward.

Cynthia held her lance out to the side as if she were jousting. She wasn't aiming to stab them, but rather catch their sides with the edges of her new lance.

In the corner of her eye, she could see the bright orange glow of the roaring flames that her passenger bathed the Valmese in. There were lingering trails of the flames on the ship, but they were put out from some mages with weak wind spells.

As they finished their first run, Cynthia banked them around to keep up their momentum. Robin had to wrap his arms around her waste to keep himself from falling, something that the rider didn't mind at all.

Without giving the Valmese a chance to recover, they flew across the ship again. Once more raining down flames on the Valmese soldiers.

"Cowards! I'll have your heads on a pike as I march through the streets of Regna Ferox!" The commander roared.

"You'll have to get them first!" Chrom roared as he charged the knight.

"Hmph. So, it's the Exalt himself that would dare challenge us." The general deduced. "I had heard your tactician was a smart man. Though from this decision, it doesn't appear as though he is as brilliant as they say."

"You'd be surprised in what he can plan." Lucina glared.

"And just who are you little girl?" The General asked. "I was told there were only three children of the Crusading Exalt."

"That is not for you to know." Chrom sneered.

"Hmph. I am Ignatius, hand of the Conqueror. By my lance, I will strike you down here and now!" The man announced with pride.

Lucina prepared to strike but a hand held her back.

"Father?" She whispered.

"Lucina, do you have a Rapier with you? Every member of House Ylisse has one fashioned for them when they are born. Even Lissa has one, but she never uses it." Chrom told her.

"Yes, but why?" The future Exalt asked.

"They're made in a way that allows them to puncture through armour. The Falchion won't be effective as it." Her father explained.

Nodding, the blue-girl sheathed her Falchion and went to take out the pointed weapon that she kept on the other side of her belt.

Moving into her usual position, she stood firm waiting for the moment to strike.

With a roar, the enemy general charged towards them. His bulky armoured slowed him down considerably, but he kept his shield in front of him leaving no openings.

The pair dodged to sides as he slowly turned around. The two lords finding themselves in his sides.

Taking an opportunity, Lucina rushed forward with a lunge. Ignatius turned to her with his shield and blocked the blow.

Unfortunately, he had taken his eyes off of his other opponent. Chrom charged forward at the man's open back. His sword easily piercing through the hard metal of the man.

"Gah!" The commander screamed in pain, falling to his knees. "Kill me…and ten more…will take my place."

"The commander is down!" Chron cried in victory. "Robin! Signal the retreat!"

Not needing to respond. The tactician raised his hand into the air, a bright explosion alerting the Shepherds of their success.

* * *

Flames…Roaring flames of destruction was all they could see as they sailed passed the ruins of the once massive Valmese fleet.

"It's like the sea itself is on fire!" Lissa cried.

"I honestly can't believe it worked." Frederick said amazed.

"Only Robin could come up with a plan of using half of our own fleet as flaming cannonballs." Flavia chuckled. "It was so simple, but none of the Valmese expected it."

"We may have won the day, but the war still looms." Chrom added. "We must continue onwards and take control of their main harbour."

"Aye, boy! I've had enough of the smoke and smell here for more than one lifetime." Basillio agreed.

"Full Speed for Valm!" The Exalt commanded.

In his cabin, Robin held his head to his desk. He was struggling to come to terms with what he has commanded to have done.

After the war with Plegia. There were many on both sides of the war that called him a demon in disguise. A reaper of death that collected his souls on the battlefield.

While some did it in praise, others called him it out of fear. Many Ylissean nobles grew fear of him should he ever decide to turn against the halidom, while some other families resented him for not saving the Exalt.

The fate he had left the Valmese to, he would never wish upon anyone. Not even the Mad King Gangrel if he were still alive.

He pounded his desk. How could anyone not feel remorse for ordering such an action?

Not to mention his daughter had fainted from over exerting herself. Luckily, she had already woken up by the time he had made it too the infirmary, but that still hadn't stopped him from worrying. He now understood what Gaius had told him not long after they had found Brady.

A knock came from his door. He wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone, but the person on the other side persisted and repeated the action.

"Are you in there, Robin? Father says it's time for dinner." The knocker asked.

' _Lucina.'_ Robin surmised. "I'm here, but I'm not feeling hungry." He replied lifting his head up so it wasn't muffled.

"Are you sure?" The future witness asked again.

"I'm sure." Robin answered.

As he heard her walk way, he once again dropped his head against his desk. He just wanted to be left alone to his wallowing right now.

He sat there for what felt like hours when another person came to get his attention.

"Robin?" The person began. "It's me, Cynthia. Are you okay?"

Unlike with her sister, Robin struggled to turn the younger princess away. He was debating with himself when he heard the door open itself.

"You forgot to lock it, hehe." Cynthia giggled closing the door behind her.

He couldn't help but chuckle with her. It wasn't something that he would normally do. "I guess we all make mistakes." He replied turning to her.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" She asked running towards.

Looking towards the small mirror next to him, he had to admit that he looked like hell. His eyes were red, while he hadn't been crying, he still felt the stress from his decision. His hair was sticking out all over the place and the underneath of his eyes were dark and heavy.

"Am I a monster?" He asked her.

"W-what?" The blue-haired girl hesitated, not expecting the question.

"Am I a monster?" He posed again.

"What makes you say that?" Cynthia asked.

"Because what kind of man would order what I did." The tactician sighed out. "Even when we first met, I executed a man. I have asked so many brave men and women to fight to my plans, and so many soldiers of Regna Ferox and Plegia have died." Robin continued. "I'm no hero. I'm just an orchestrator of death."

Cynthia was silent for a while, not really sure how to respond. But she was able to sum up a perfect response to Robin's speech.

*SLAP*

A good old slap to the face.

"Ow." Robin moaned in pain holding his cheek. Then, Cynthia grabbed a hold of his shoulders and stared him in the eyes.

"You are not a monster." The heroic girl started. "You did what you had to do. Even heroes have to make hard decision's and not all of them are good ones. All we can do is accept them. But also look at all the good you've done. Those men would have destroyed Port Ferox. Possibly made examples out of innocent people. You saved so many people today."

"But I-" Robin tried to reply.

"No buts. You defeated the Mad King Gangrel with minimal casualties. You have made the lives of Ylissean's and Plegian's better. You saved Regna Ferox. You have helped so many people. So, I'll say it again. You are not a monster." The princess finished.

Robin stared at her in disbelief. He wasn't sure how to respond to the heartfelt speech she just gave him. The tactician remembered back to his own speech he had made earlier that day. He felt remorse for his actions, from that remorse he held onto his humanity.

"I…thank you, Cynthia. That's exactly what I needed to hear." He smiled at her. She beamed in response.

"You helped me before after we found Inigo remember. It's the least I could do, not to mention it was the heroic thing to do." The Pegasus knight smiled striking a pose.

"Yes, you're right. It was definitely heroic." Robin agreed.

"Ya know, if you still need some help. I could try and keep the nightmares away with my hero's presence." Cynthia suggested.

"Are you sure?" The tactician asked her. "Wouldn't Lucina get mad?"

"Pfft, I'm a big girl now. I can do what I want." The younger princess crossed her arms and tried to look as mature as possible.

It was an adorable attempt that failed spectacularly.

"Alright, alright." Robin relented. "I am feeling quite tired, it's been a long day."

Similar to after the battle where they found Olivia's son and granddaughter, Robin only took off his cloak before the two of them entered his bed.

"Thank you again, Cynthia. You really set me straight." The white-haired man said.

"Well, for helping you out, I think I deserve a reward. Don't you think?" She replied wiggling her eyebrows.

"Yes, I suppose you are right." Robin agreed, knowing exactly what she wanted.

It felt like it had been an age since they had last kissed. It was slow and sweet.

"I love you Robin." Cynthia told him as they separated.

"I love you too, Cynthia." He replied.

The duo cuddled together as they waited for the sandman to claim them.

* * *

 **A/N: And that's a wrap. Love it, Hate it, don't give a damn. Leave your opinions in the reviews.**

 **In Heroes news, I got a +Speed Karla...I've already given her Distant Counter and built her up to everything. Male Grima decided to say hello again, so now I've got him at +1.**

 **Anyway, I'll see you guys next time.**


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